


Text Message Tango

by ihearttvsnark, Sxymami0909



Category: Smallville
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 73,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1692380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihearttvsnark/pseuds/ihearttvsnark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sxymami0909/pseuds/Sxymami0909
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are quiet in Metropolis until the members of the Justice League are faced with an internal communication malfunction. (Based on Texts From Last Night prompts.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dirty Little Secrets

Victor sat behind the desk at Watchtower, a frown on his face as he stared down at the phone in his hand. The screen repeatedly flashed “Error” and had been doing so for nearly forty minutes. He pushed several buttons, keyed in the pass code and waited impatiently as the familiar hourglass filled the screen. There was a quiet beep from the device and once again, he found himself taunted by a five letter word.

 

Frustrated, he took a deep breath and fought the urge to bang the phone against the desk. Not that it would do him any good since the stupid thing was made out of titanium and was virtually indestructible. He muttered a few curses to himself as he used the hard drive inside his body to run the program again. He blinked as computer codes flashed past his eyes, his brain scanning the data for the small flaw that was ruining his day.

 

The new phones had been his brainchild from the start, expanding on the database and GPS technology Chloe had originally come up with to track the team and make it easier for them to communicate with one another. Queen Industries had developed the phones based on his exact specifications and Oliver had supplied each member of the team with one. But there were still a few kinks in the system that he needed to work out.

 

Victor switched a few codes around in his system, changed the commands and waited for the data to transfer to the phone from the special cord that was connected to his right arm. As the hourglass appeared once again, he glanced around the empty Watchtower, wondering what everyone else was up to. Things had been quiet lately, which was good for the city and the rest of the world, but it made for long days with little to do.

 

The phone beeped again and this time, the home screen appeared, no error message in sight. Victor smirked. “That’s right, I own you.” He sent a command through Watchtower’s system that would update everyone’s phone at the same time. When the computer confirmed the upgrade went through, Victor disconnected himself from the terminal and reached for the phone again. He figured he might as well see if AC or Bart was free for lunch.

 

Before he could type the message, the phone alerted him that he had an incoming text from Chloe. Victor pushed the button to read the message, a small part of him hoping that maybe there was trouble out there somewhere or at least something suspicious he could research.

 

_“I feel like wearing underwear would just be poor planning.”_

His eyes widened and he stared at the message, images he did not want to think about briefly flashing through his head before he heard Ollie’s voice reminding him that Chloe was his wife and his current line of thinking was liable to get him dismantled and the pieces scattered across the globe.

 

Obviously the message had been meant for Oliver and Victor assumed his upgrade had somehow misdirected the text. He pushed the button to delete it, determined to pretend like it never happened. But if he got the text, there was a chance other members of the team had gotten it as well. With a long sigh, he scrolled through the contact list for Chloe’s name and hit send. He had to at least warn her that her text might be group fodder for the next meeting.

 

It was a little after one and Chloe had been texting back and forth with Oliver for the past hour out of sheer boredom until finally he’d told her that she should just occupy her time by visiting him for lunch.

 

She glanced around the apartment and was in the process of grabbing her purse off the kitchen island so she could head out and meet Oliver at his office when her cell phone rang. She grinned, answering it on the second ring and lifting it to her ear without bothering to check the caller ID, expecting it to be her husband.

 

“I guess someone’s meeting ended early, I’m just leaving the apartment now, I’ll be there soon,” she said as she made her way to the elevator while holding the phone between her shoulder and ear as she shrugged into her jacket.

 

Victor frowned. Maybe the phones were in worse shape than he thought. “Chloe, it’s Victor,” he said. Chloe blinked and then chuckled lightly as she pressed the button for the elevator.

 

“Sorry Vic, I forgot to check the caller ID. I was waiting to hear back from Ollie and I thought you were him. What’s up?” The doors slid open and she stepped inside before pressing the button for the lobby and shifting the phone to her other ear.

 

“Yeah, about that,” Victor paused as he tried to think of the best way to tell her what happened. Suddenly he was rethinking this whole phone call thing. “I was working on the update for the new phones and I think there may have been a glitch.”

 

The elevator doors slid open and she walked out into the lobby as she frowned, “A glitch? What kind of a glitch? It seems to be working fine...” Her voice trailed off as she waved to the doorman while making her way out onto the street heading in the direction of the Luthor Corp. building.

 

“Well I was in the process of fixing the problem Tess came across the other day with the GPS not connecting to the Chloe2 satellite grid and the command sequence was out of order,” Victor explained. He was stalling, still not wanting to come right out and tell her that he received her private text. “I sent out the upgrade to everyone a few minutes ago and I think it might have scrambled communications that were happening at the time.”

 

Chloe’s brows furrowed as she paused, glancing both ways and then made her way across the street. She was slightly distracted and not really sure what he was getting at, but maybe that explained why Oliver hadn’t texted her back yet. Maybe the disturbance in the system blocked her text. “Okay, but the problem is all taken care of now right? The upgrade’s complete and whatever was disrupting the system is now out?”

 

“It’s fixed,” Victor confirmed. Sighing inwardly, he rolled his eyes at the ceiling. She was going to make him come right out and say it. “Chloe, I...um...I got a text from you that I think was meant for Ollie. About your um... _underwear._ ” The last word came out of his mouth in a rushed whisper.

 

Chloe froze in her steps, face flushing bright red as she stood in the middle of the sidewalk completely mortified. “Oh _my_ god...I’m so sorry...I was so sure I clicked Ollie’s name.” Her voice trailed off as a new thought occurred to her.

 

If the message was sent to Victor did that mean it was sent to other people too? She groaned as she picked up her pace, wanting to make her way to Oliver’s office quicker. “Please tell me it wasn’t a mass text Vic...is there a way to find out?”

 

“I don’t know if anyone else received it, that’s why I wanted to warn you,” Victor said. His own cheeks heated at the pure mortification he heard in her voice. He rose from the chair and walked to the main computer terminal, quickly logging into the system and pulling up the database of phone logs. “I’m checking now,” he told her as he scrolled through the massive files.

 

“Thanks Vic.” Chloe shook her head as she crossed another street, finally catching sight of the front of the Luthor Corp. building a block or so away. As far as embarrassing events went, this had to be up there with the top ten. But seriously, how was she supposed to know that the new phones would mess up the exact moment she was texting Oliver?

 

Though it was fitting. Things like this always somehow seemed to happen to her. She sighed, “Any luck yet? I’m almost at Ollie’s office and I’d like to know if I’m going to have some explaining to do about why I’m sending team member’s texts about...private _things_.”

 

“Sorry, I’m almost done,” Victor replied. He’d gotten distracted by the sheer volume of text messages that had been going out between various team members in the past thirty minutes. He had a feeling he wasn’t the only one who had been bored lately. He also couldn’t help catching bits and pieces of various text messages as he searched the recipients. Chloe and Oliver weren’t the only ones whose texts rated in the NC-17 category. It looked like the Justice League members were keeping some secrets.

 

“You’re good, Chloe,” he told her, eyebrows raised as he caught sight of a text Emil had sent out. Who knew the good doctor had a wild side? “The only person who got your message was me.”

 

Chloe let out a sigh of relief as she pulled open the front door of the building and walked into the lobby. “Thank god. Sending it to you was bad enough, but the whole team? I would have had to hide at the apartment forever.”

 

She stopped at the elevator and stood to the side as people milled about around her. “Listen, I’m about to head up to Ollie’s office, so I’ll talk to you later, but thanks for letting me know about the text and you know...maybe we can just keep this little mishap between us?”

 

Victor laughed. “What mishap?” He was more than happy to pretend this conversation never happened. “Take care, Chloe.”

 

She grinned. “Thanks Vic, I’ll talk to you later.” She pressed the end button and tossed her phone in her purse before jabbing the elevator button. It dinged a few seconds later opening slowly. Chloe stepped inside, pushed the button for Oliver’s floor and waited impatiently.

 

Even though things had been extremely slow on the criminal activity front lately, his day job had been keeping him busy and she was bored. The sound of the elevator drew her from her thoughts and she stepped out and made her way towards his secretary’s desk.

 

She smiled; waving slightly at the older woman, who was on the phone, returned the smile and waved her through letting her know she could head right into his office. Chloe knocked lightly on the office door and pushed it open not waiting for him to answer.

 

She walked inside, shutting it behind her and leaning against it as she grinned at the sight of him behind his desk hanging up the phone.

 

Oliver grinned back at her, the tension in his shoulders easing for the first time since he’d walked out of the clock tower that morning. Work had been hell lately and if his morning meetings and conference calls were any indication of things to come, it might be time to start wishing for another alien invasion just so he had a reason to kick someone’s ass. But now that his wife was standing in his office, he was already feeling human again.

 

“Hey Sidekick,” he greeted her affectionately. Her smile widened as she pushed away from the door, dropping her purse on the chair and making her way over to his desk. She nudged his chair lightly with the tip of her heel, maneuvering herself so she was sitting on the edge of the desk in front of him, voice warm. “Hey yourself, Hero, how’s my favorite husband doing?”

 

“Much better now that my favorite wife is here to brighten my day.” Oliver’s grin widened as his hands slid over her hips, squeezing her lightly. “Since you didn’t respond to my text, can I assume you’re wearing those green panties I’m so fond of?”

 

Chloe flushed lightly at the mention of the text message, tilting her head to the side and biting her bottom lip. “Actually I’m not,” she sighed. She hadn’t planned on bringing it up, but she guessed this pretty much fit with the theme of her day.

 

“I sort of texted you back, but there was a glitch with the stupid cells phones and instead of going to you, my message might have found its way...elsewhere.” She gave him a sheepish grin, attempting to shrug off the mortification of sending a dirty text message to Victor.

 

“Elsewhere?” Oliver repeated. Arching an eyebrow, he tightened his grip on Chloe as he waited for her to elaborate. She slid a hand up Oliver’s arm, inching slightly closer to him in an attempt to distract him as she nodded while leaning forward and placing a light kiss against his jaw.

 

“Yes, it might have gone to someone else’s phone by mistake. Stupid phones...” She grumbled as she stood slightly, shifting her body so she was sitting sideways on his lap, one hand gripping his bicep, the other pressing lightly against his chest.

 

He caught her hand in his before she could further her exploration of his chest and make him forget the topic at hand. “Chloe,” he said, slowly drawing out each syllable of her name as his eyes bore into hers. “Whose phone did it go to and what exactly did this text say?”

 

She groaned, letting out a short huff as she scrunched her nose. “It went to Victor’s phone, but no worries, I had him check and make sure it didn’t go to anyone else’s...you know it makes sense that you didn’t  get it though...I was wondering why you didn’t reply.”

 

She smirked, tilting her head to the side, “I might have said something about feeling like wearing underwear would be poor planning...”

 

Oliver’s eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth a few times as he processed what she was saying. “So Victor got your text about not wearing underwear...” The corner of his mouth twitched as he bit back a smile. “...and he told you that he got the text by mistake?”

 

She glared at him slightly, “This is _not_ funny...and yes of course he got it by mistake...I usually don’t make a habit of telling team members I’m going commando.” She made a face. “He called and told me even though it took him like fifteen minutes to actually spit out why he was calling. God, it was mortifying...now every time I see Victor I’m going to feel like he’s judging me...”

 

“Commando, huh?” He smirked at her as his eyes roamed over her. “We’ll be getting back to that talking point shortly, but first, Victor is not going to judge you. We’re _married,_ Chloe. People know we have sex. Besides, it could have been worse,” Oliver pointed out.

 

She knew he was right. Considering some of the things they sent to each other through text, it was definitely on the tame side. Plus, with the amount of times that they had been caught in the act, one little message shouldn’t really bug her so much.

 

Chloe tugged on his tie lightly and glanced up at him, pouting slightly, “Yeah, yeah I know, but still, I like to avoid the embarrassment of sending naughty text messages to people who aren’t my husband...Stupid phones,” she said while sighing.

 

“Stupid phones,” Oliver agreed. He brushed his nose lightly against hers, his fingers skimming over the top button of her blouse. “Why don’t you let me help you forget about technology for awhile?”

 

Chloe smirked arching an eyebrow in his direction, “Oh, now that you’re done mocking you want to play?” She shifted slightly, her hand sliding up his arm and gripping the back of his neck, humor dancing in her eyes. “You’re just lucky you’re too pretty to say no to Mr. Queen...now about that text...”

 


	2. I Want to See Your Peacock

Clark rubbed his face on the soft cushion, shifting his body slightly and toppling off the couch and onto a hard flat surface, his head slamming into the ground with a loud thud. He groaned, lifting his arm slowly to his head as he lay flat on his back against the floor. What the hell?

 

He pried his eyes open, the sunlight from the balcony streaming into the room as he caught sight of blues, greens and oranges. Clark blinked several times, trying to make out the shapes on his arm. His head was pounding and his body felt like he’d been run over by a two ton truck.

 

He brought his arms down, flattening his palms against the wood floor and pushed himself into a sitting position. He glanced around the room slightly confused for a minute before realizing he was at Oliver’s penthouse.

 

He arched an eyebrow and went to run a hand over his face, when he extended his arm and froze. His mouth dropped open and he turned his arm, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. As he was moving around looking at his arms, he felt an odd tickling sensation on his chest.

 

Clark glanced down at his naked chest and his eyes widened. He was completely covered in what looked to be feathers. He stood up quickly, pausing when the room started to spin. He reached a hand up to his head, wincing as he moved forward, banging his leg into one of the side tables.

 

The last thing he remembered was getting together with Oliver and the rest of the team to take AC out and get his mind off the divorce he was currently going through. How he ended up back at Oliver’s place...he had no idea. He walked towards the kitchen and made a face when he saw the mess on the counter.

 

Bottles and empty containers were scattered across the island. He misjudged his step and knocked into one of the stools, causing it to crash to the ground. He flinched and as he was bending down to pick up the stool, feathers tickling his face, he heard the sound of a door being opened and glanced up.

 

As far as hangovers went, Oliver had had a lot worse than the mild headache he was currently nursing. The hot shower and handful of aspirin he had downed were already working their magic and he figured his favorite protein shake and a morning workout would knock out the rest of the pain. As he strolled toward the kitchen, a loud crash caught his attention and had him picking up his pace to see what the hell was going on.

 

The mess on the counter wasn’t much of a surprise, but Oliver barely had time to register that it was there before Clark rose to his full height on the opposite end of the island as he straightened the stool he had bumped into. Oliver’s eyes widened as he stared at his super powered friend who was half-naked and covered in feathers.

 

 

“Morning, Clark,” Oliver said. He bit the inside of his cheek, doing everything in his power to keep a straight face. “Did you sleep well?” he asked. Clark looked up and glared, not missing the humor on his friend’s face.

 

He pointed at his chest, irritation in his voice. “I’m covered in feathers! Why the hell am I covered in feathers? And what happened last night? Why can’t I remember anything?” He frowned and then made a face before sneezing loudly. He shook head and held up his hands, “Well? What the hell is going on?”

 

Oliver smirked, the tiny hold he had on his self-control falling by the wayside as he watched the feathers flapping against Clark’s skin from the force of his sneeze. “I don’t know, man. Your guess is as good as mine.” He snorted, laughter bubbling in his throat as he pretended to cover it with a cough.

 

Clark pursed his lips as he stormed around the kitchen island, feathers moving back and forth as he frantically searched the mess on the counter for his phone while every now and then, sending a withering glare in Oliver’s direction.

 

“This is _your_ fault...I know it is...I knew this was a bad idea. I told Lois something always goes wrong when we all hang out and all I get from her is ‘suck it up, Smallville’ and now I’m covered in...What the hell are these? Peacock feathers?”

 

He grunted, frustration filling him when he couldn't find his phone. He turned to face Oliver while reaching over to his other arm and pulling at one of the feathers. He let out a small yelp and glanced down at his skin, eyes red. He craned his neck back over to Oliver slowly, voice eerily calm. “Someone _super glued_ peacock feathers on me?”

 

It was the calmness of his voice that finally broke Oliver. He howled with laughter, his upper body shaking as he practically doubled over. The movement brought a sharp stabbing to his temple, reminding him of his own hangover, but he was laughing too hard to care. “This is not my fault,” he insisted. Oliver placed a hand over his stomach as he tried - and failed - to get a grip on his laughter. “Maybe you should call Big Bird. You two can go patrolling together and exchange preening tips.”

 

Clark nodded his head, giving Oliver a sarcastic smile, “You think this is funny, do you? Go ahead...laugh it up. If you weren’t married to my best friend I might be tempted to run you somewhere far, far away and leave you there.”

 

He glanced down at his body and started ripping at the feather’s one by one. Halfway through, he let out a small growl and dropped the feathers on the floor. “This is ridiculous. This is why I _never_ go out with you guys...look at me! I look like some kind of colorful piñata!”

 

“Hey, wait just a minute,” Oliver retorted. He wagged his finger at Clark.”Last night was fun. At least I think it was. It had to be or this wouldn’t have happened.” He gestured to Clark’s ensemble, another burst of laughter falling out of him. “Maybe if you exercised your sense of humor once in awhile, you could just laugh like a normal person. Come on, man. You’re covered in feathers! How is that not funny?”

 

Clark closed his eyes and shook his head. “I swear sometimes I have no idea why Chloe married you...how would you feel if you were the one who woke up covered in feathers? Oliver...look at me!”

 

He made a show of flapping his arms, the feathers on his body moving back and forth with him, giving the appearance that he was moving in several different directions. He stopped abruptly and walked over towards the counter.

 

He caught sight of something sticking out near the coffeemaker and when he reached over and pulled it out he let out a triumphant noise. “My phone!” He turned to Oliver, a serious look on his face that was almost entirely overpowered by the fact that two large feathers were hanging off his ears. “What’s the last thing you remember from last night?”

 

Oliver choked back his laughter, momentarily torn between commenting on Clark’s earrings and taking offense to the other man’s opinion on his marriage. He decided just this once to let both go and focus on answering his questions. “First, do you really think I’ve never woken up covered in feathers? _I’m_ _Oliver Queen_.” He sent him a scathing look. “As for last night...” His voice trailed off.

 

What was the last thing he remembered? Chloe had left for the farm and Clark had shown up, grumbling about taking a night off from patrol even though Tess was monitoring things from Watchtower and crime was still practically non-existent. Victor had arrived next with AC and Emil. Bart had been the last one to show up and he’d brought a bottle of champagne with him. Oliver frowned. Since when did Bart bring champagne?

 

“You should text Bart and tell him to get over here. Now,” Oliver added, his expression sobering for the first time since he’d seen Clark’s feathers. Clark frowned and at the expression on Oliver’s face before looking down at his phone and scrolling through his contacts. He pressed a few buttons and pulled up his text message feature.

 

Clark’s brows furrowed in concentration as he typed out the message to Bart and pressed send before glancing up at Oliver and shrugging; feather’s once again shifting on his body form his movements. “I guess now we just wait...”

 

______

 

Lois was right in the middle of one of her favorite dreams - the one where she’s on stage with White Snake belting out her favorite song and head banging with the best of them - when a loud buzzing invaded her ears, the noise drowning out the guitar riffs. Groaning, she shot her hand out to turn off the alarm clock, only to connect with a bowl of popcorn instead. She knocked it off the table, the sound of the kernels hitting the hardwood floor waking her up completely.

 

She sat up, momentarily confused as to why she was on the couch and not snuggled up in bed with Clark. Her eyes fell on her cousin’s blond head on the opposite couch and she remembered the guys had taken AC out to take his mind off the sea witch who broke his heart. Lois thought he was better off without her, but Clark just shook his head when she reminded him of how horrible the woman had been. Not to mention how free she was with her nakedness.

 

Making a face at the memory, Lois was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the intrusive buzzing again and realized it was coming from her cell phone. She rescued it from the couch cushions, smiling when she saw Clark’s name.

 

_“Why do I have peacock feathers super glued to my body?”_

She burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the room. Chloe was startled awake by the sound of laughter, eyes flying open as she glanced around the room in confusion. When the chuckling didn’t stop, she turned slightly on the couch wincing at the kink in her neck, and glanced at her cousin on the opposite couch with one eyebrow arched.

 

“What in the world are you cackling about over there, Lo?”

 

Still laughing, Lois glanced up from the phone, her eyes sparkling when they met Chloe’s. “Clark just sent me the weirdest text message. If he were anyone else, I’d think he was coming off a drunken bender, but Clark can’t get drunk.” She frowned at that. “Maybe someone else has his phone. Actually, now that I think about it, this has Ollie written all over it.” She held out her phone to Chloe so her cousin could read the message.

 

Chloe sat up and moved towards Lois, her eyes dropping to the phone as she glanced over the message there. A smile broke out on her face as she chuckled. Somehow picturing Clark covered in peacock feathers made her body shake with laughter.

 

She covered her mouth and looked up at Lois as she snorted lightly, her laughter growing louder. When she finally managed to catch her breath, she arched an eyebrow in her cousin’s direction. “Why in the world would Clark send you that message? And peacock feathers? We always miss the fun stuff...”

 

“I still think this has to be your husband’s doing,” Lois said. Her eyes fell on the message again and she started laughing even harder at the thought of her straight-laced fiancé walking around covered in feathers. “I need to get the details.” Before she had a chance to respond to the message, there was another loud buzzing, this one coming from Chloe’s side of the room.”That’s probably Ollie now. Tell him to send pictures!”

 

Chloe smirked and moved back over to the couch she’d been sleeping on, reaching over and grabbing her phone. Knowing Oliver, Lois was probably right. There was no way Clark would randomly decide or agree to dressing up in feathers. She let out another short chuckle just picturing it as she ran her finger over the touch screen of her phone.

 

She frowned slightly as she looked at the message on her screen. “It’s from Bart...that’s weird,” she opened it, eyes scanning the screen as she read it out loud. “It honestly wasn’t my fault this time...I was in shock...I mean who the fuck owns a peacock?”

 

Chloe’s words were slightly jumbled with laughter and she passed the phone over to Lois so she could see the capital letters and exclamation points. “Oh my _god._..”

 

“Hold up,” Lois cried through her own laughter. “Are you telling me that Clark is covered in feathers from an _actual_ peacock? Did they abduct one? What the hell is Shorty talking about? And why is he texting you?” she demanded.

 

Chloe shrugged and shook her head, “I have no clue...but I think it’s time we got some photographic evidence of this little mishap because if Clark is really covered in peacock feathers...this is going to have to be something that’s documented.” She grinned up at her cousin and bit on her bottom lip. “Maybe I should call Ollie?”

 

Lois shook her head, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “I’ve got a better idea. Call Bart and tell him that we need a ride to Metropolis,” she said. At this point, she didn’t want to settle for photographic evidence. She needed to see this fiasco with her own two eyes.

 

Chloe’s lip twitched at the corner, amusement dancing in her eyes. “You’re horrible Lo...and that’s why I love you.” She pressed on the text message, bringing Bart’s number up on the screen and pressed send before lifting the phone to her ear and waiting for the younger man to pick up.

 

Bart was sitting in a chair holding a glass of water against his head when the phone in front of him rang. He glanced at it, grunted and reached forward checking the caller ID. He grinned slightly before answering it on the second ring. “Hola, Mamacita, how’s the girl’s weekend going?”

 

Chloe grinned as she spoke, “Apparently not as good as your guy’s night out. So, I got the strangest text from you about a peacock?” Her voice trailed off and Bart sat up straight, confusion on his face. “Wait, you got my text? How? I sent that to Clark?” Chloe pursed her lips and shrugged even though he couldn't see it.

 

“I don’t know, but I have a more important question...is Clark really covered in peacock feathers?” Bart groaned running a hand over his face. “It wasn’t my fault...” Chloe cut him off while sitting forward. “We don’t care whose fault it is...we just want to see...Feel like making a little pit stop in Smallville and giving us a little ride to Metropolis?”

 

Bart straightened up, grinning as he hopped off his chair. “Be there in a flash.” Chloe opened her mouth to respond and less than ten seconds later there was a rush of wind between her and Lois. She glanced up, smiling as she ended the phone call. “Hey Bart.”

 

He winked, “Hiya, Gorgeous.” He turned to face Lois and nodded in her direction while waggling his eyebrows. “How’s it goin' Hot Stuff?”

 

“It’s going,” Lois replied, arching an eyebrow at the speedster. “But you might want to keep the flirting to a minimum, Shorty. It sounds like Clark already has some furry reasons to want to hurt you.”

 

Bart rolled his eyes as he crossed his arm over his chest, “Not you too...I’ll say it again, for once it wasn’t my fault...and I’m sticking to that.” he nodded. Sure, maybe he was the one who popped in on Zatanna and asked for a little bit of her bubbly brew, but who could blame him?

 

They were only trying to loosen Clark up a little bit so he wouldn’t be so much of a stick in the mud while they tried to cheer up AC. It had been a necessity and it wasn’t like it was just _his_ idea. The guys had agreed...well most of them.

 

He shook his head slightly and glanced between Chloe and Lois with an expectant look on his face. “Which one of you ladies am I taking on the Bart express first?”

 

“Take Chloe first and then come back for me,” Lois said. She narrowed her eyes, pinning each of them with a hard stare. “Do not go into that penthouse without me! We have to be stealth about this before Clark and Ollie have a chance to undo it. Got it?”

 

Chloe gave Lois an exasperated look. “Really, Lo? You act like I’ve never skulked around before.” She glanced at Bart, “You’re going to have to drop me off at the side entrance of the building and I’ll walk around so I’m not caught on any of the security cameras.”

 

She stepped forward and pointed at him, a warning in her voice. “Keep your hands where I can see them and _do not_ text the guys after you drop me off and let them know we are coming...or else.” Bart gulped slightly and nodded.

 

It didn’t matter how fast he was, he knew by now you don’t mess with the Sullivan-Lane women. It was just not a smart thing to do because no matter what, they’ll always get you back, and when you least expect it. He cleared his throat, grabbed onto Chloe, and seconds later there was a gust of wind leaving Lois standing alone in the middle of the living room.

 

Less than a minute later Bart reappeared, grin on his face as he held out a hand to Lois. “Ready to go, Legs?”

 

“Keep it up, little man and you won’t have to worry about Clark kicking your ass because I will do it for him.” Lois took his hand and stepped closer to him, her eyes filled with warning. “Same rules apply. Keep your hands where I can see them or you won’t be able to walk for a week,” she threatened with a sweet smile on her face.

 

Bart let out a short breath, “Well aren’t you pleasant in the morning. Hold on tight.” He smirked before taking off, possibly whipping around a little more than usual before coming to a stop outside of the penthouse. He took a step back from Lois and chuckled, “Nice hair.”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. “I grew up on a military base. It takes a lot more than a little wind to rattle me.” She stepped forward, pleased that she still had several inches on Bart even though she wasn’t wearing any shoes. “By the way, did I mention that you’re coming inside with us?” She wrapped her hand around his arm, her fingernails digging into his skin with a little more force than necessary. “Something tells me you know more than you’re saying.”

 

He shook his head, eyes widening as he swore to himself. He should have known she was up to something when she moved closer to him. Damn, how did he always manage to get himself dragged into these situations?  “You’re out of your mind...I’m not going in there...I told you I don’t know anything...now come on...let me go.”

 

If he went inside no doubt someone would remember it was him that brought the alcohol last night and he didn’t exactly see _that_ conversation going well for him.

 

“You were the one who was trying to text Clark in the first place,” Lois reminded him. With her hand still firmly wrapped around Bart’s arm, she turned to her cousin. “Chlo? Care to weigh in?”

 

Bart whipped his head around, giving Chloe a pleading look and she gave him a sympathetic look. “They’re going to know you brought us here...how else would we be able to get here so fast? If you leave now it’s only going to be worse later. Just...come up with us, it’ll be fine.”

 

Bart snorted. “You’re only saying that because you haven’t seen Clark yet...”

 

“You heard the lady, two against one,” Lois said smugly as she tugged on Bart’s arm, pulling him toward the door. “Let’s go see what those two are up to. Make sure you’ve got your camera phone ready, Chlo,” she added with a grin over her shoulder.

 

Chloe held up her phone, waving it slightly as they made their way into the building. Chloe waved at the doorman and motioned Lois and Bart to follow her into the elevator. Once they were all inside, she pointed to the button. “As soon as I push it and type in the code Oliver will know someone’s coming up, so I vote that you take the picture Bart, since you’re the fastest.”

 

His mouth dropped open and he pointed to himself as the elevator doors shut, locking him inside the small box with the two women. “ _Me_? Why me? This isn’t fair...” he grumbled as he leaned in against the back of the elevator while Chloe pushed the button and typed in the code for the penthouse.

 

Their argument was a moot point because Oliver was too busy to notice the small beep from his laptop indicating activity in the elevator. Grimacing, he stood behind Clark, carefully plucking the feathers from his back with a pair of tweezers he had grabbed from Chloe’s drawer in the bathroom. Clark’s skin was littered with bits of feathers and dried super glue that wouldn’t come off no matter how hard Oliver scrubbed it with the brillo pad he’d found in the kitchen sink.

 

“Would you stay still?” Oliver grumbled as Clark squirmed on the chair. “I’m not doing this for my health you know,” he reminded him as he yanked off more feathers, leaving a raw patch in the middle of Clark’s back.

 

The elevator doors slid open and two sets of hands pushed Bart out of it. He grunted, stumbling slightly before glaring at them over his shoulder. He took a few steps further into the apartment walking down the hallway and getting the camera ready under extreme protest. When he made his way into the kitchen, he froze at the sight in front of him.

 

And before he knew what was happening, laughter was falling from his throat. Bart gripped his sides, bending over slightly as a loud belly laugh broke the silence in the kitchen. He couldn’t help it. Clark was wincing as Oliver stood behind him yanking feathers off his body. “Oh my god...Stretch...those are some intense feathers.”

 

Bart broke out into another fit of laughter and Chloe frowned from by the elevator. She glanced at Lois and sighed. “Somehow I don’t think he’s in there taking the picture...”

 

“Who cares, cuz? I need to see this now!” Lois practically ran out of the elevator, coming to a sharp halt when she reached the kitchen. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene, Oliver frozen behind Clark with tweezers in his hand and Clark...

 

Tears welled up in Lois’s eyes as she tried to hold back the laughter as her eyes trailed over the brightly colored feathers still covering most of her fiancé’s upper body, including his face and ears. Her eyes finally found his and she quickly brought her hand to her mouth at his pained expression. “Hi honey,” she said brightly before giving in, her entire body shaking with laughter as the tears poured down her cheeks.

 

Chloe nearly banged into Lois as she came to a halt beside her cousin, eyes going wide as a grin broke out on her face, “Oh my god...Clark...you’re so...colorful.” The second the words left her mouth, Bart snorted and doubled over even further and Chloe couldn’t help the chuckle that left her throat.

 

She shook her head, eyes straying towards her husband as she arched an eyebrow, about to make a smart ass comment when she noticed the tweezers in his hand. She squinted slightly and pointed towards them. “Are those my good tweezers?”

 

Oliver glanced at the tweezers in his hand before flashing his wife his famous smile. “They seem to be working pretty well, so yes?”

 

She opened her mouth and then shut it as she placed a hand on her hip. “You’re buying me new ones...the same exact pair. I’m not using those after this,” she waved a hand at Clark, “plucking off bird feathers...”

 

Her eyes fell on Clark once again and she couldn’t help the giggle that left her mouth. Clark glared at his best friend and then turned to his fiancée. “This _isn’t_ funny,” he lifted his hands up and motioned to his body, “look at me Lois...look at what they did to me!”

 

“I see,” Lois said slowly. She tried her hardest to stop laughing, but she couldn’t contain one last snort of laughter. “I’m sorry,” she said, ducking her head from Clark’s gaze.

 

“What are you two doing here anyway?” Oliver asked as he returned to the task at hand, smirking when Clark jumped slightly at the contact. He glanced around Clark at Bart who had been abnormally quiet aside from the laughter. “I know this is your fault,” he said. “In fact, you should be in charge of the de-feathering.”

 

Bart scrunched his nose, “Dude, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole if you _paid_ me. I am not de-feathering Boy Scout...that even sounds dirty. And this is _not_ my fault...I wish everyone would stop saying that.” He let out a dramatic sigh before zipping to the fridge and back in seconds, a bottle of water in his hands.

 

Okay...so maybe Zatanna’s magical concoction hadn’t been his brightest idea...but from the looks of it, they sure as hell had a good time. He grinned slightly and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Chloe cut him off as she walked over towards Oliver and Clark.

 

“Lois was woken up by a text from Clark and then I got the strangest text from Bart about peacock feathers...and we decided to do a little investigative work...” She stopped beside them and made a face. “Is that...super glue?”

 

“Yeah,” Oliver confirmed. He nodded toward the brillo pad he’d tossed on the counter. “I tried to get it off, but it won’t budge.” He plucked another chunk of feathers from Clark. “Someone must have still been drunk and texted Lois by mistake.” He eyed Bart again, not missing the fact that the younger man was standing near the door like he was going to bolt at any second. “Impulse, do you have something to tell us?”

 

Bart bit the inside of his cheek and shook his head. “No?” Chloe tilted her head and gave him a stern look. His shoulders deflated, sagging as he blew out a long breath and put the bottle of water on the counter. “Okay...so I might have stopped off to see Z before coming here last night...”

 

“Zatanna?” Oliver rolled his eyes heavenward. He should have known their favorite sorceress had her magic wand in this. “Let me guess...the champagne you brought had her special ingredient again? The same one she slipped us the night Chloe and I got married?” His expression softened slightly as his gaze shifted to his wife.

 

Chloe met his eyes, a smile pulling at the corner of her lips, voice amused, “I quite enjoyed that champagne.”  Bart rolled his eyes before glancing between Chloe and Oliver. “Really? Do you think you guys can save the longing glances until after we worked this out?”

 

He motioned to Clark, “I might have brought the drinks, but the peacock wasn’t my fault...I refuse to take responsibility for that.” He crossed his arms over his chest giving them a petulant look.

 

“Okay.” Lois clapped her hands loudly, a smirk on her lips when all three men winced at the sound. “Before these two sneak off to make more googly eyes at each other, I want to hear the rest of the story. But first...” She stepped forward, moving to stand between Clark’s legs as she cupped his face in her hands. “You’ve been way too quiet, Smallville. Let it out,” she suggested. She knew Clark only got this quiet when he was really upset.

 

He pursed his lips for a minute before catching his fiancée’s eyes and letting out a long breath before pointing at Bart and glaring in his direction. “My so-called friends drugged me with magical champagne even after I committed several crimes last time and then super glued peacock feathers to me!”

 

He turned to Oliver, his voice growing slightly louder, “PEACOCK FEATHERS....” and to emphasize his point he yanked off a handful of feather’s from his body, tossing them on the ground. He eyed both men and arched an eyebrow.

 

“You think this is funny? Fine...you think I’m not fun enough,” he nodded, “that’s okay because you both seem to forget who my fiancée is...I’ve been taking notes. There is going to be some serious retaliation when you least expect it...and you can tell the same to Vic and AC.”

 

He made a face before turning back to Lois, placing a hand on her hip lightly and giving her a sheepish smile. “What do you say we get out of here and head home? You can de-feather me and I’ll tell you what I remember about last night?”

 

Lois caught her bottom lip between her teeth, her heart beating a little faster at Clark’s words. Her mild-mannered fiancé didn’t lose his temper often, but when he did...She swallowed hard to moisten her suddenly dry throat and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I say what are you waiting for? Let’s get out of here.” She pressed a kiss to his jaw, barely noticing the feather that tickled her face. Clark blinked at the kiss before arching an eyebrow and grinning. Maybe being covered in feathers wasn’t so bad after all. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her body against his, gaze never leaving hers, his body finally releasing some of the tension that had built up since he’d woken up that morning.

 

He leaned in, pressing a kiss against the side of her head before moving quickly and lifting her in his arms, grinning at her startled expression before sending one last glare Bart’s way and speeding out of the penthouse, sending a rush of wind swirling around Oliver and Chloe, several feathers left floating to the ground.

 

“That’s fine, guys, Chloe and I will clean up the mess!” Oliver shouted after them even though they were long gone.  He draped his arms over Chloe’s shoulders, pulling her body against his side. “I missed you last night, Sidekick.”

 

Chloe smiled, “I missed you too.” He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her lips before glancing sideways at Bart. “Anything else we need to know?” he asked warily.

 

Bart pursed his lips, his eyes shifting towards the spare bedroom briefly before looking back at them. He shook his head and grabbed his bottle of water. “Uh, nope nothing I can think of. I’m going to head out, you know things to do people to see...later.”

 

Chloe opened her mouth, but before she could get a word out there was another gust of wind and Bart was gone. She sighed before shifting her body towards Oliver and gripping his waist lightly. “Why do I feel like he wasn’t telling us the truth?”

 

“Probably because if this were a Disney cartoon, we would have actually seen his nose growing,” Oliver quipped. His hands slid over her hips as he smiled down at her. “We’re probably better off not knowing. Besides, what could be better than Clark Kent covered in feathers?”

 

Chloe bit her bottom lip as her hands slid up his arms, eyes dancing with humor. “That was pretty hilarious I’m not going to lie...you realize I’m going to need some more information about last night right? Like where in the world did you guys get a peacock?”

 

“I wish I could tell you,” Oliver replied honestly. “The last clear memory I have is Bart showing up with the champagne.” Frowning, he tried to recall what had happened after Victor had poured everyone a glass. “I don’t even remember leaving the penthouse,” he admitted.

 

She reached up, hand grazing against his cheek as she gave him a sympathetic look. “Aw, poor baby, I guess we’ll never know then.” Her eyes strayed to the mess in the kitchen before glancing back at him, “I don’t know about you, but I was woken up quite abruptly this morning.”

 

She trailed a hand down his bare chest to the waist of his pants and grinned, “How’s about you take me back to bed, Romeo and _you_ can worry about the mess in the kitchen later?”

 

Oliver smirked, lifting her up and tossing her over his shoulder without missing a beat. “Works for me,” he agreed cheerfully as he carried her toward the stairs, sidestepping the feathers that lined the path.

 


	3. Trading Favors

Chloe stood outside the building, hat low on her head, and a Grande almond mocha latte in her hand as she glanced impatiently at her watch. Lois was running late, which wasn’t all that surprising, but she would have thought with how big a deal their current mission was, she would have made an effort to be early or at least on time.

 

Chloe glanced to her left, taking in the sheer volume of people mulling about the outside of the building and she sighed. This was going to be a lot more difficult then they’d anticipated. It was going to take more than what she currently had in her arsenal.

 

The doors weren’t even open yet and already there was a commotion. How were they going to manage to make it through all those people without being conspicuous? She shook her head. Only Lois would outfit an operation where something was so in demand a person would have to be Houdini to get in and out undetected and in one piece.

 

She turned her wrist and glanced at her watch again. They had fifteen minutes before it was time. She needed to warn her cousin so she didn’t freak out when she finally did make her way there. Chloe took a sip of her coffee before fishing around in her purse for her cell phone.

 

Her hand closed around it and she pulled it out of her purse as she moved her finger over the screen and brought up Lois’s name. Her brows furrowed as she stood there, head bent down, fingers moving quickly on the keys as she typed out a text to Lois and sent it.

 

She glanced back up and sighed, holding her phone in one hand while she lifted the coffee to her mouth with the other. Just five more minutes and then it was go time.

 

______

 

“I’m familiar with the account, Phillip, but I don’t remember seeing that proposal in the specs your assistant sent over.” Oliver tucked his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder as he shifted in his chair to search the stack of papers sitting next to his laptop. His jaw ticked when he didn’t see the folder he needed and he sighed inwardly. “I’m not in the office right now, but I will have my assistant take another look and get back to you.”

 

He rolled his eyes as the other man droned on and on about deadlines and not waiting too long or he was going to take his business elsewhere. Oliver bit back the scathing remark on the tip of his tongue, told Phillip that he would get back to him soon and disconnected the call. “Jackass.” He tossed the phone on the desk and shifted in the chair again to face his laptop so he could fire off an email to his assistant. “You know I wouldn’t have to do all this extra work if I was actually taking calls from my office,” he said pointedly.

 

Tess rolled her eyes. Standing at the main computer terminal in the center of Watchtower, she kept her back to Oliver as she concentrated on the screen in front of her, watching the small dots that represented Bart and AC as they navigated their way through a drug warehouse on the other side of the globe.

 

“Blame your wife,” she told him as she double checked the security camera in the warehouse to make sure they were still running on the continuous loop so the guys could remain undetected while they searched for the contraband substances. “She had some mysterious errand and needed me to play Watchtower today and I need you so we can hammer out this deal with Japan.” Tess finally spared him a glance over her shoulder. “Stop complaining and do your job.”

 

Oliver stuck his tongue out at the back of her head when she turned around again, not caring that it was childish. He still thought the deal could wait until she got back to the office when Chloe was finished doing whatever it was Lois had dragged her into doing. “How are we supposed to go over the contracts if you’re helping the guys?” he asked.

 

“What would you like me to do, Oliver, let them fend for themselves and hope for the best?” Tess glanced at the screen one more time to make sure everything was still in place before turning to Oliver, arms crossed under her chest. “You’re a CEO of a billion dollar corporation. There has to be something you can do from here while you wait.”

 

There were plenty of things he could be doing, but none of them were as much fun as annoying her. “You’re the one who wanted me here, Tess.”

 

She simply arched an eyebrow, refusing to take his bait. Tess started to turn back to the computer just as a strong wind tore through the room, whipping her hair around her head. “Clark, nice of you to join us,” she muttered.

 

He gave Tess a sheepish look as he dusted off his shirt. “Sorry, there was a fire on Broad Street and then I got sidetracked by robbery...anyway I’m here now. What’s going on?” He caught sight of Oliver out of the corner of his eye and he nodded in the other’s man’s direction. “Hey Oliver,” he glanced back at Tess and frowned. “Where’s Chloe?”

 

“She’s not here,” Tess replied. She gestured to the screen. “Bart and AC are almost done with this mission. I need you to standby for a few minutes while I finish up with them.” She motioned toward Oliver. “Keep him company,” she suggested.

 

Oliver scowled. “I don’t need a babysitter, Tess. I have work to do. At m _y offic_ e,” he added pointedly. Clark walked over towards the couch as he waved Oliver off. “Ignore him, he always gets cranky when Chloe isn’t around,” he said, voice holding a hint of teasing to it.

 

He sent a small smile at Oliver as he plopped down on the couch and leaned forward, arms resting against his knees. He sat there for a minute, the sound of Tess typing echoing through the room. He tapped his fingers before getting antsy and needing to break the silence. He cleared his throat and turned looked over at Oliver. “So...how are things?”

 

“Fine,” Oliver replied. An email response from his assistant caught his attention and he typed a quick confirmation before turning to Clark. “Things are still hectic at Queen Industries and Luthor Corp., and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done at the office.” His voice rose on the last word, his lips curving into a smirk when he saw Tess’s shoulders tense.

 

She scowled at the computer screen as she overrode a security code for AC. Tess tapped the com device in her ear and told the guys they were all set to make their escape. She watched their dots move toward the exit and as soon as they were clear of the warehouse, she typed the codes to turn the security cameras back on. Her cell phone vibrated on the table beside her and Tess snatched it up, relieved to see Chloe’s name flashing. She really hoped she was on her way back or there was a good chance Tess was going to murder her husband.

 

_“We are probably going to have to use your boobs as currency to get this done.”_

Tess opened and closed her mouth a few times as she reread the message on the screen. “Oliver,” she started slowly. “What exactly is your wife doing right now?” she asked. Clark glanced from Tess to Oliver, eyebrow arched.

 

Oliver frowned at her strange tone. “I don’t know,” he said, glancing at Clark. Chloe had specifically told him not to mention that she was with Lois if he saw Clark. Oliver knew better than to ask questions. “Why?”

 

“I’m just wondering what it is exactly that she wants me to use my boobs in exchange for,” Tess replied. Clark’s eyes widened and he choked slightly, causing two sets of eyes to turn his way as his face flushed. His voice was an octave higher than normal when he spoke.

 

“Chloe’s doing what with your...” he hesitated briefly, motioning towards her body as his voice lowered to a whisper, “ _boobs_? _This_ is why you wanted me to come here?”

 

Tess rolled her eyes. “Yes, Clark. I called you here because Chloe wants to barter with my breasts and I thought you should be here for that,” she scoffed. Hands on her hips, she turned to Oliver with a scowl. “Well?” she demanded.

 

Oliver threw up his hands. “How should I know?” He turned to Clark, amusement dancing in his eyes at his friend’s obvious discomfort. “You do know you’re a guy, right? It’s okay to say ‘boobs’ without whispering and turning into a tomato.”

 

Clark glared at his friend, as he leaned forward. “I do not look like a tomato and what just because I don’t sit around talking about boobs all of a sudden I’m not a guy?” He shifted in his seat, completely uncomfortable with the conversation but slightly annoyed with Oliver’s apparent amusement. “I’ll have you know my fiancée has amazing...boobs...so there, see?” He tried his best not to blush as he scratched the back of his head. “And anyway shouldn’t you be a little more worried about your wife and her fetish with Tess’s.... _parts_?”

 

“It’s not a fetish,” Oliver snapped. He grinned smugly at his friend. “Trust me when I tell you that Chloe has no complaints when it comes to anything relating to our bedroom activities. Or couch activities,” he added, looking pointedly at the spot where Clark was sitting.

 

Clark made a noise in the back of his throat and immediately stood up. Oliver was like an adolescent male, always marking his territory even when people didn’t know it. If he wasn’t one of his best friends and practically family, he would tell him exactly where he could shove his sexual exploits.

 

He pointed to the couch, giving Oliver a stern look. “You know I really don’t need to hear about all the places you and my best friend do...whatever it is you do. Besides, I have a feeling it would take a lot more time then I actually have...all I meant is...”

 

He stumbled on his words, “What I mean...the text...can someone just find out what’s going on? Maybe we should call Lois, I bet she knows why Chloe wants to trade Tess’s...uh…you know.”

 

“Boobs, Clark,” Oliver retorted. Leaning back in his chair, he continued to smirk at his fumbling friend. “You’re right, by the way. It would take me all day just to go over all the different places we’ve done it in this room.” He knew he was proving Clark’s point and making himself sound like an immature teenager, but he couldn’t resist goading him a little longer. Seeing Clark flustered was even more fun than annoying Tess had been.

 

Clark’s eyes turned to slits as he glared at his friend. He knew what Oliver was doing and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah well, you aren’t the only person who has sex outside the bedroom. Just because Lois and I don’t treat Watchtower as our personal...”

 

He paused searching for the right description, “ _sex cave_ doesn’t mean we don’t have our own fun. We had sex on the porch swing the other day...so there.” He could feel his cheeks warmly slightly and he shook his head. “But anyway, maybe if you two kept it out of Watchtower you’d get caught less.”

 

Oliver lifted his shoulder in a shrug, the smirk on his face growing even wider. “Well, Clark...”

 

“Stop it,” Tess interrupted before Oliver had a chance to finish his sentence. She moved toward them, her heels clicking loudly on the floor as she stepped between them.”Before the two of you reach for your rulers, why don’t we do what we should have done ten minutes ago and consult the source?” she suggested, giving each of them a cool stare.

 

Clark blinked and glanced over at Tess while pursing his lips. He had forgotten for a minute that Tess was with them and he had the decency to look sheepish. He pointed to her phone, “Uh, yeah that makes sense.” He looked between Tess and Oliver, “So, who’s going to call her?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Tess pushed the button on her phone to dial Chloe’s number. She lifted the phone to her ear, only to have it snatched out of her hand by Oliver who got up from the desk so fast she didn’t have time to react. “You’re such a child, Oliver,” she scoffed.

 

He grinned. “My wife,” he reminded her as he brought the phone to his ear and leaned against the desk while he waited for Chloe to pick up.

 

Chloe winced as she watched Lois elbow some guy in the gut as she pushed him out of the way. She felt her phone vibrate in her purse before it started to ring and she dropped her eyes from Lois to search her bag.

 

When she finally pulled it out, she saw Tess’s name on the caller ID. She answered it, lifting the phone to her ear as she caught sight of Lois shoving yet another person out of the way. “Hey Tess, what’s up?”

 

“Miss me, Gorgeous?” Oliver asked, ignoring the disgusted looks Tess and Clark were both shooting in his direction.

 

A bright smile filled her face as someone knocked into her. She shot a glare in their direction before moving to the side of the aisle and leaning against a shelf, warmth in her voice. “Wow Tess, you’re starting to sound an awful lot like that husband I love so much...” She moved her hand over her other ear to try to lessen the noise around her.

 

“When don’t I miss you? Well, unless you count the times I’m too preoccupied with how wonderful my coffee tastes to really be thinking about anything else...”

 

“You miss me then too,” Oliver replied confidently. His own smile brightened as he shifted slightly away from Clark and Tess. Even though it had only been a few hours since he’d seen her at breakfast, Oliver’s day had been less than ideal and hearing her voice instantly eased some of the tension he’d been carrying around.

 

“Seriously, Oliver?” Tess’s voice was filled with irritation as she tapped her foot impatiently. “Get back to the subject at hand or give me _m_ y phone and let me talk to Chloe. Some of us have better things to do than listen to you flirt with your wife.”

 

Oliver glared at her. “I had better things to do too, Tess a _nd y_ ou made me wait. Now it’s your turn.”

 

Chloe frowned and shifted her body away from the aisle, the sound of Tess and Oliver arguing coming through the other end of the phone. “Uh hello...why are we fighting with Tess? And as much as I love talking to you, and you know I do, Lois and I are sort of in the middle of something. Is everything okay? Why are you calling me from Tess’s phone instead of yours?”

 

“Sorry, Sidekick,” Oliver said. He sent another glare in Tess’s direction. “I have a quick question for you and then you can get back to whatever it is you’re doing.” He was careful to leave out Lois’s name. He could see Clark waiting expectantly out of the corner of his eye. “I was hoping you could tell me what exactly you want to trade Tess’s boobs for...”

 

Chloe opened her mouth and closed it quickly, glaring at the phone in her hand as she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Damn these phones! I didn’t send that text to Tess, I sent it to _Lois_. I swear my phone hates me Ollie,” she pouted slightly as she glanced around and frowned when she didn’t see her cousin.

 

“Really?” Oliver raised his eyebrows, wanting to ask why she had sent that text to Lois, but he couldn’t do that with Clark in the room. Actually, he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain anything to Tess or Clark without giving away the fact that Chloe was with Lois. “I don’t think the phone hates you, Chloe,” he said, deliberately stalling. “All of our phones have been messing up lately. Clark has your phone done anything weird since the peacock incident?” he asked.

 

Clark’s brows furrowed as he raised an annoyed brow at Oliver, “You realize I’m not deaf right? I can hear your entire conversation from where I’m standing.” He pointed to his ears. Normally Clark didn’t make a habit of spying on other people’s conversations, but it was almost like his ears were trained to hear the name Lois

 

“Why is Chloe texting Lois? Are they together?” He’d been wondering where he fiancée ran off to earlier and the one time he called, she hadn’t answered. Then between work, Tess’s phone call and the fire he hadn’t had a chance to call her back yet.

 

Tess arched an eyebrow as she glanced back and forth between the two men. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what had happened and judging from the look on Oliver’s face, she had a feeling they were about to engage in another one of their pissing contests. “Since we’re no longer needed here, my boobs and I will be working in the loft.” She turned on her heel and marched toward the staircase before either man could respond.

 

”Damn it, Clark, Chloe and I were having a private conversation!” Oliver shouted. He scowled at his friend; irritated with his creepy super hearing and also the fact that Chloe was probably going to kill him for not letting her know Clark was there right off the bat.

 

Clark scowled back at him. “Hey you’re talking about _my_ fiancée and it’s not like I meant to overhear, it just happened, now can someone please tell me what’s going on?” He took a step closer to Oliver, “Actually why don’t you just let me talk to Chloe?” he said as he moved to take the phone from Oliver.

 

He instinctively held the phone tighter, his quick reflexes allowing him to dodge Clark’s hand, but Oliver knew he didn’t have much time before Clark used his super speed against him. “Sorry, Sidekick, Clark left his manners at home today,” he said as he moved further away from Clark.

 

Chloe let out a small sigh. She knew that Oliver and Clark were good friends, but lately their bickering was getting out of control. She wasn’t sure what was going on with the two of them, but hopefully they’d resolve it soon. “He does that sometimes. Ollie, I’ve got to find Lois, there are a lot of people where I am and she sort of...vanished into the crowed.”

 

She pushed away from the wall and started weaving in and out of people as she tightened her grip on the phone. “We should be back soon, just tell Clark we’re on a little recon mission and not to worry okay? I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Oliver replied. He disconnected the call and turned to Clark. “Do I need to relay the message or were your big ears on red alert?” he asked.

 

Clark sighed, “I’m sorry for overhearing. I told you it wasn’t intentional.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet, “Well...what did she say?”

 

“I’m sorry too,” Oliver replied. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave Clark a sheepish smile. “I’ve been kind of an ass lately. It took a long time to get things straightened out after that business with the VRA and Lionel’s resurrection.” Oliver had been snapping at everyone who wasn’t Chloe for the past few weeks and he knew he wasn’t being fair to his friends. “She said not to worry and they’ll be back soon.”

 

He nodded and shrugged, “It’s okay. I haven’t exactly been picture perfect myself.” Things had been stressful for everyone and with the lack of criminal activity lately, well the team was cooped up and bored. He stood there quietly for several minutes before catching Oliver’s gaze and chuckling lightly. “So, why do you think she was talking about using Lois’s boobs for currency?”

 

“I’m curious about that myself,” Tess called. She smirked when both men glanced up at her in surprise as she leaned against the railing of the loft and looked down at them. “I’m sorry; did you want me to avert my eyes so you could seal your bonding with a kiss?”

 

“Very funny,” Oliver snapped. His newfound resolve to be less of a jackass wasn’t going to extend to Tess at the moment. “Chloe didn’t say and I didn’t ask. I’m sure they’ll fill us in when they get back.”

 

Clark nodded as he tilted his head up, catching the amusement on Tess’s face. “Especially if Lois is with her, I’m sure we’ll get the whole story in excruciating detail. But until then, why don’t you tell me why you called me here...”

 

______

 

Chloe pulled her purse over her shoulder as she made her way out of the sliding glass doors, amusement on her face. It had been close to an hour since she talked to Oliver and they were finally heading back home, mission completed successfully. Chloe glanced to her right at her cousin’s beaming face and shook her head, chuckling softly. “You’re looking quite proud of yourself there Lo’.”

 

“Damn straight,” Lois replied, the grin on her face getting even wider as she proudly held up the bag in her right hand. She hadn’t counted on getting caught up at the Planet and being forced to wait an extra twenty minutes before she was even allowed in the building, but her father was a general and she knew better than anyone it was always good to have a backup plan. In this case, that plan had involved ramming her first into a guy’s face, but it was all going to be worth it when she handed Clark what was inside the bag.

 

She turned to her cousin as they walked along Main Street toward the Watchtower. “Thanks again for being my co-pilot today, Chlo. It’s been way too long since the Sullivan-Lane girls pulled off a caper.”

 

Chloe hooked her arm inside Lois’s and smirked, “You’re too right and I’ve got to say it might have been slightly exhilarating knocking that display into the guy going for the last box and watching you practically leap over him.” She shook her head, laughter falling from her throat.

 

“Clark better appreciate the length you went through for that gift.” She gave her cousin a sideways glance as they paused before crossing the street and continuing down the next block.

 

“Oh, he’ll appreciate it all right,” Lois replied confidently. She sent her cousin a knowing look. “I don’t know about your hero, but mine has been extra grumpy lately and I’m hoping this will be just the thing to put a smile back on his face. If not...well...I guess I’ll have to see what I can get for these.” She gestured to her chest. Chloe had filled her in on the latest text message mishap.

 

The blonde bit her bottom lip and tilted her head to the side. “Oh I’m sure you’d get plenty for those,” she gave her a look before continuing, “and yes, I know exactly what you mean about the grumpiness, though it’s been directed at other people, not me.”

 

She glanced at the bag and then back at her cousin. “We heading back to Watchtower or do you need to go back to the Planet?”

 

“I think the Planet can do without me for a few hours,” Lois said. She lowered her voice dramatically. “Besides, my cousin has a habit of getting hot and heavy with the guy who owns the paper and sending dirty texts to my editor. I figure my job is secure.”

 

Chloe groaned while rolling her eyes, but there was a smile on her face. She couldn’t even deny it, then again why would she want to? Well, except for the dirty text messages part. “Real nice Lo, but you know what that means right?” She glanced at her cousin as they turned the corner, “don’t ever get on my bad side...or I’ll use my perverse charm to have you fired.” She grinned.

 

Lois laughed as they made their way up the steps leading into Watchtower. “I wouldn’t dream of it, cuz...”

 


	4. Gives You Hell

Oliver sat behind his desk at Luthor Corp., the notes and proposals for his afternoon meeting spread out in front of him. It had already been a hectic morning of conference calls and contract negotiations with Tess and the board of directors, but Oliver had been pleased with the outcome. They had finally seemed to undo all the damage Lionel had caused in his brief return and the board members had gotten the message that Oliver and Tess were in charge once again and it was best for the company - and their wallets - if they stood behind them.

 

He glanced at the clock on his computer screen and saw that he had less than five minutes before he needed to be in the conference room. Tess had already left for the Planet to take care of things on that end so he was on his own for this one. Oliver skimmed through the proposals one last time, jotting down notes in the margins for things he wanted clarification on. Most of the details for the merger were already worked out and he planned to seal the deal by the time the meeting was over.

 

The phone beside him rang and Oliver reached for it without bothering to check the caller ID. “Oliver Queen,” he answered absently as his eyes lingered on the proposals.

 

“Why hello there, Mr. Queen, I was hoping I’d catch you before you went into your meeting.” Chloe glanced up at her computer screen as she searched through her emails, grin on her face at his tone. “Are we in business mode over there? You sound so serious...no endearments this afternoon?”

 

Oliver grinned at the amusement in his wife’s voice. “Sorry about that, Mrs. Queen. I was just going over some last minute details for my meeting. But now that I know it’s you on the phone, I will gladly give you any endearment you desire,” he said huskily.

 

Chloe chuckled as she continued typing, her brows furrowing when she still didn’t find what she was looking for. She spoke, affection in her voice, “Down boy, I’m calling you for a work related reason.”

 

She sighed as she switched monitors, opening a new file. “I’ve been looking for the information from the mission you and the boys went on last weekend and I can’t find it anywhere, which is annoying the living daylights out of me since I _do not_ lose information.”

 

Her hands paused and she leaned against the mainframe, smile returning to her face. “Any chance you’d be willing to forward the original email to me, because you love me so very much?” She asked, tone sweet.

 

Chuckling softly, Oliver was already logging out of his Queen Industries’ account and switching to the heavily encrypted account he used for Justice League business. “I thought we were keeping this professional, Sidekick. Now I feel like you’re using my love for you against me so that as your boss I don’t question what happened to the information on your end.” He found the email she needed and forwarded it back to her.

 

Chloe rolled her eyes while grinning, “I thought we were partners? What happened to the whole us being a team thing? Besides...if anything happened it was _your_ system that ate _my_ email, so really when you think about it, this was your fault.”

 

The computer pinged and she switched monitors, double clicking on the email, opening it up and downloading the information onto the encrypted server. “Added, thank you.” She glanced at the progress of the download and then turned so her back was facing the computer as she leaned against the console, her voice lowering slightly. “Now what was it that you were saying about giving me anything I desire?”

 

“We are a team and you’re welcome,” Oliver said. He leaned back in his chair, his pulse speeding up at the drop in her voice, his mind flashing back to the previous night’s activities as his lips curved into a satisfied smirk. “As for giving you what you desire, you should know by now that your wish is my command. What can I do for you, Chloe?” he asked suggestively.

 

Her tongue darted out, running across her bottom lip as she felt her body respond to his words. For some reason she couldn’t stop thinking about last night. She and Oliver had always had a healthy sex life, but lately things seemed more intense. She couldn’t help that the thought of him sitting in his office, leaning back in his chair, smug grin on his face, was turning her on.

 

Chloe’s sultry voice floated through the phone as she spoke softly. “You know, it’s awfully lonely here at Watchtower...a girl could get bored all by herself with nothing to entertain her...”

 

He swallowed hard, reaching up to tug on his collar that suddenly felt much too tight. Oliver pictured her at Watchtower standing at the computer terminal, biting the corner of her lip in concentration as she waited for the updates to download. She’d been wearing one of her tight pencil skirts when she’d left the penthouse that morning and it would be all too easy for him to walk up behind her and slide his hands up her smooth legs...

 

“Mr. Queen, your three o’clock appointment is here. I’ve sent them to the conference room,” his assistant’s voice came over the intercom, pulling Oliver back from his less than innocent thoughts. Stumbling over his words, he tried to cover it with a cough as he told his assistant that he would be with them in a minute.

 

“Duty calls, Sidekick,” Oliver said. He switched his laptop back to the Queen Industries server and gathered up the proposals. “How about a rain check?” he asked wishing he could skip the meeting and head straight for the Watchtower.

 

She sighed, pouting slightly as she turned back towards her computer, catching sight of the pop up on the screen letting her know the download was complete. “Oh alright, but if you’re home before me I expect you to be in bed and naked waiting for me,” she paused a new thought coming to her, “Actually I changed my mind make it the shower.” She grinned, fingers once again moving against the keyboard, humor in her voice. “Have a good meeting Oliver.”

 

He groaned as his brain was flooded with all the different ways he had taken her in their shower. Oliver shook his head, forcing himself to push those thoughts aside and put his game face back on. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Sidekick. See you at home.” He disconnected the call, sliding his phone into his pocket as he grabbed the paperwork from his desk and headed down the hall to the conference room.

 

“Gentlemen, Ms. Hayes, Ms. Lambert,” Oliver greeted his guests with a smile as he walked around the table to his chair. “Thank you all for coming. Ms. Mercer will not be joining us this afternoon, but she and I have discussed the proposals in great length and we’re in agreement. Shall we get started?”

 

As the account manager started going over the proposals, Oliver was only half-listening. His mind had drifted back to Chloe and the welcome home he’d given her the night before when she’d gotten back from dinner with Lois. Doing his best to hide the smirk on his face, Oliver reached into his pocket for his phone and typed out a message to his wife to let her know what was on his mind.

 

______

 

Carter grunted as he lifted one of the heavy boxes from the closet and walked to the middle of the room, dropping it none too gently on the dusty desk. He was in the process of cleaning out the last of the rooms at the museum and it looked like he might actually be able to finish up today.

 

After Chloe had helped him reach out to other members of the Justice Society, he decided it was time to put their headquarters back together, and in the mean time as he worked on getting the museum up and running, he’d been helping out the string bean and his merry band of men.

 

Several months ago he had decided that re-opening the museum would be not only a good investment but a good cover. Courtney had spent the last few weeks dropping by after school, helping clear out the clutter and organize everything and several of the Justice League members, including Oliver, had pitched in lending their time to his cause.

 

It was nice, even if he did have to spend time with Green Jeans, though he had to admit he was slightly less annoying with his better half around. He glanced down at the box and reached forward, prying it open. Going through everything wasn’t easy, there were so many memories packed away around him, but in order to move forward he knew they needed to be dealt with and put to rest.

 

Carter let out a small sigh and just as he was reaching inside the box, he heard the sound of his phone vibrating before it chirped twice. He stopped what he was doing and glanced around the room his eyes falling on the counter where his phone lay.

 

He wiped his hands against his pants as he walked across the room and lifted the phone from the counter, arching an eyebrow when he saw there was a new text message from Oliver waiting in his inbox. He pressed a few buttons and scrolled through the messages before clicking on the new one.

 

It opened and Carter blinked. He pursed his lips, closed his eyes, opened them and then re-read the message. No, still the same words.

 

_“Sex on bubble wrap = best decision ever.”_

He opened and closed his mouth several times, not entirely sure what to think of that message. What in the world was that ridiculous Robin Hood wannabe sending him text messages about sex for? He glared at his phone. If this was some kind of joke, it wasn’t funny. He shook his head, letting out a long breath at the younger man’s antics.

 

Sometimes he seriously questioned Chloe’s sanity when it came to her relationship with Oliver. Sure, he’d seen the spark between them from the beginning, and yeah he might never admit it out loud because it would only boost the other man’s ego too much, but Oliver was a good guy and a capable leader. But he did stupid things...the text message currently sitting on his phone, proof of his stupidity.

 

He shook his head as he closed out of his messages, pulled open his phone book and scrolled down to Oliver’s number before pressing send and bringing the phone to his ear. Carter shifted his body, back leaning against the counter, as the phone rang and he waited for the smart ass to pick up his phone.

 

The meeting had gone even smoother than Oliver had expected it to. He was walking the group to the elevator and exchanging a final handshake with the account manager when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He waved them off, pulling out his phone as he turned back toward his office so he could send a quick email to Tess and then get the hell out of there.

 

He glanced down at the caller ID, surprised to see Carter’s name flashing on the screen. Oliver closed his office door at his back and lifted the phone to his ear as he rounded his desk and sat back in his chair. He had just seen Carter a few day earlier at the museum when he and Chloe had helped Carter and Courtney clean out a dusty storage room filled with creepy jars of what Carter claimed were priceless artifacts. To Oliver, they had seemed more like shrunken body parts that a serial killer would keep as trophies and he’d told Carter as much. He smirked as he recalled just how much the vein in Carter’s forehead had bulged out.

 

“Hey Big Bird,” he greeted him. “Did you need me to help you move around some more people jars?”

 

Carter’s eyes turned to slits, fist clenching at his side as his jaw tensed. The little punk was messing with him. The next time they went out on patrol he would have to throw his green leather clad ass through another window. “They aren’t people jars and that’s not why I’m calling. Is there a specific reason you’re sending me sexually explicit text messages?” Carter smirked as he leaned back, “Is this something I should be telling your wife about?”

 

The comeback that had been on the tip of his tongue slipped away the second Carter spoke the words “sexually explicit text messages.” Oliver pulled the phone away from his ear and scrolled to the screen that showed him his last sent messages. He’d had the phone under the table and way too many of his acquaintances had names that started with C. He’d assumed Chloe had been too caught up in work to respond.

 

His phone clearly showed the message had been sent to Chloe, but apparently that didn’t mean anything given all the problems they’d had with messages going to the wrong people lately. He was going to have to talk to Victor about that as soon as he dealt with Carter and his snide comments.

 

“Obviously that wasn’t for you,” Oliver told him defensively. “There was a mix up with the phones.” He really hoped Carter would just let it go at that so he could get home to his wife.

 

Carter’s grin widened at the tone of Oliver’s voice. Finally, something that made the archer uncomfortable or angry; either way it was a win, win situation. And to think he thought today was going to be boring. He crossed an arm over his chest and shifted the phone in his hand. “I don’t know...sometimes I wonder about that leather fetish of yours...”

 

“What the hell are you flapping your beak about?” Oliver demanded. “What does my leather fet -” He scowled, gritting his teeth. “It’s not a fetish,” he clarified. “It’s practical for Green Arrow and it has no bearing on this topic. That message was for Chloe, not you and can we wrap this up? I have better things to do with my afternoon.” Jaw clenched, he opened his email and started a message to Tess.

 

Carter let out a silent chuckle, body shaking slightly at Oliver’s apparent irritation with him. He enjoyed getting under the younger man’s skin, it was fun listening to him get flustered, even more fun watching it. “You’re protesting awfully loud there, string bean, you know what they say about that don’t you?” His lip twitched as he attempted to hold in the laughter that was building in his chest.

 

“No, I don’t know what they say and I don’t care,” Oliver snapped. His jaw ticked as his fingers angrily raced over the keyboard. “Not all of us can spend our days polishing our weapons’ cases or finding shelf space for people jars. I have a company to run so if you’re through with your insinuations, I’d like get back to work.” He could hear the laughter in Carter’s voice and it only fueled his annoyance. What was that guy’s problem anyway?

 

“Hey I’m not the one sending team member’s dirty text messages...maybe you should check your phone next time, or better yet, don’t send dirty messages to your wife while you’re working. Apparently, you’re not great at multitasking.” Carter finally let out the chuckle he’d been holding in and he glanced down and shook his head. He knew he was pushing his luck and Oliver was getting pissed off, but he couldn’t help himself.

 

“Really?” Oliver replied. He forced himself to relax his jaw, worried it would crack in half if he clenched it any harder. “You’re going to lecture me about multitasking?” His scowl deepened when he caught sight of all the misspelled words underlined in red on his screen. Mentally cursing Carter, Oliver closed out of the email, deciding to finish it later when his head wasn’t exploding. “For your information, all our phones have been acting up lately and I will talk to Vic about it as soon as you stop yapping at me so that you don’t intercept anymore private messages. Happy?”

 

Carter’s laughter died down and he pushed away from the counter and walked back over to the box as he pushed the phone between his shoulder and ear while reaching out and digging through the box. “Ecstatic,” He had obviously hit a nerve and though he enjoyed teasing the other man, it wasn’t in a malicious way...well most of the time it wasn’t. “Well don’t let me keep you then, Green Jeans, don’t you have a wife to get home to?”

 

Recognizing the small peace offering for what it was, Oliver relaxed, letting some of the tension slip out of his neck and shoulders. “I do,” he confirmed. The idea of Chloe waiting at the penthouse for him brought a smile to his face and then it immediately faded when he remembered the reason Carter had called him in the first place. “Can we agree to never speak of this again?” he asked hopefully. Oliver wasn’t Clark; he wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed of the fact that he and his wife had an amazing sex life. But Carter was pretty much the last person he ever wanted to discuss it with.

 

Carter smirked as he lifted a small book out of the box, his face softening as he ran a hand over cover. He cleared his throat, “Mention what?” He said matter-of-factly as he his eyes took in the engravings on the leather bound book.

 

Oliver pressed his lips together in a tight smile, purposefully ignoring all the sarcastic remarks that were bouncing around in his head. Carter was going easy on him and he needed to suck up his pride be grateful. “Thanks. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, Wingman.”

 

“You too, Green Jeans, tell Chloe I say hello.” He gripped the phone and looked up glancing around the room as he shifted slightly. “Talk to you later.”

 

______

 

Chloe glanced at the clock as she moved around the kitchen, pushing the start button on the coffee maker before making her way over towards the fridge, pulling it open. It was slightly after six and she had gotten home close to thirty minutes ago only to find the shower void of her husband and the apartment empty.

 

She glanced at the food on the shelves, nothing looking particularly appetizing. She closed the fridge with a sigh, pout on her lips as she padded over towards the coffee maker barefoot before hoisting herself up on the kitchen island. She sat there staring at the machine as her fingers tapped impatiently against the granite.

 

Her gaze shifted to her side and she caught sight of her phone sitting on the counter. She was just reaching forward to grab it and call Oliver when she heard the sound of the elevator. Chloe grinned and leaned back slightly to try and catch a glimpse of him as he came through the doors.

 

Oliver stepped out of the elevator, already tugging off his tie as he moved across the penthouse. He dropped the tie on his desk along with the jacket and laptop he held in his hands and was about to head upstairs when he spotted his wife’s blond head out of the corner of his eye. Smiling, he changed direction and headed for the kitchen.

 

“Hey Sidekick, sorry about our rendezvous,” he apologized even as he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down to brush his lips lightly over hers. After he’d hung up with Carter, he’d decided to stop by the Planet and fill Tess in on the deal in person, only to find out that there was a problem with one of their factories in Mexico. They’d argued for nearly an hour before Tess finally agreed to be the one to go there and sort it out.

 

Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck as she pursed her lips, attempting to look reprimanding as she eyed him. “Imagine my surprise when I came home and there was no naked you in my shower...it was very disappointing.” She leaned forward, pressing another quick kiss against his lips before smiling. “How’d you’re meeting go? It lasted a long time if you’re just getting home from it now.”

 

“The initial meeting went fine and it was actually over a few hours ago,” Oliver replied. He let his forehead rest against hers, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to shake off the day’s tension. “There was a problem in Mexico and Tess and I argued about whose turn it was to deal with it.” He opened his eyes again and smiled at her. “Believe me, if it had been my choice, both of us would be naked right now. Then again, if it were up to me, both of us would be naked most of the time...” His lips skimmed over her neck.

 

She chuckled lightly as she tilted her head, giving him better access to her neck as one of her hands slid down his arm while the other gripped his waist, pulling his body closer to hers as she let out a small moan. “I have no doubt that, that’s true,” she moved a hand up running it through his hair. “Oh, before you make me forget did you try to text me earlier? I got a blank message and I meant to text you and ask, but then things got sort of busy...”

 

Oliver groaned, his head falling to her shoulder. “Yeah, I texted you about our bubble wrap adventure and a little while later I got a phone call from Carter wanting to know why I was sending him sexually explicit texts.” He raised his head to meet her gaze. “I think he thought I was hitting on him or something. He asked if he needed to say something to you.” Oliver made a face. “Crazy old man,” he muttered.

 

Chloe let out a loud giggle before her hand flew to her mouth covering it as her body shook with laughter. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, amusement dancing in her eyes as she glanced at her husband. “I’m sorry...I just,” she let out another short laugh, “the thought of _you_ hitting on Cater amuses me...I’m sure he was joking, I mean come on...you’re Oliver Queen.”

She smirked.

 

Every once in a while she enjoyed teasing him, “And he’s not _that_ much older than you...” She shifted, spreading her legs slightly, pulling him into the cradle of her thighs as she leaned forward and placed a light kiss against his chin. “Besides, you know you like Carter...”

 

“He’s been around since the beginning of time, Chloe,” Oliver reminded her. He didn’t like the implication that they were anywhere near being the same age. Even in his current life cycle or whatever the hell it was called, Carter had at least twenty years on him. “I’m glad you’re amused by my pain, Sidekick.” His eyes locked with hers and his face fell into a pout when he saw that she wasn’t even pretending to hide her laughter. “It wasn’t funny,” he stressed.

 

Chloe tilted her head to the side, her smile widening at his pout. She cupped one of his cheeks and moved in, capturing his lips in a light kiss, before pulling away and mating their foreheads together. “You’re such a drama queen...” She rolled her eyes as her thumb brushed against his cheek, her other hand still on his waist. “Since your day was _so_ stressful...tell me, what can I do to make it better Mr. Queen?”

 

“Well since you asked nicely...” Oliver grinned. “Do we have any more bubble wrap?”

 


	5. Gimme More

It was just after ten at night and Chloe sat in a chair that she had pulled up to the main frame in the middle of Watchtower. A map of downtown Metropolis spread out across the main screen, one red dot and one green moving about at random as Oliver and Clark ran through their patrol. Chloe glanced up and sighed. It was a slow night, or more accurately, had been a slow few weeks and so far the only thing their patrol had turned up was an attempted robbery and one mugging.

She knew the guys were getting antsy and she couldn’t say that she hadn’t been extremely bored lately. She slipped her heels off and lifted her feet up, resting them lightly against the console. She felt her phone vibrate against her lap and she glanced down and grinned.

For the past thirty minutes she’d been texting back and forth with her cousin to try and pass the time while she waited for the guys to get back from patrol. Somehow they had gotten onto the topic of how they each spent their evening last night and she marveled at the amount of inappropriate Lois could manage to ask in one sentence, but the truth was they’d probably been comparing notes on guys since Chloe was a teenager.

It was nice having someone around to have a little girl talk with every once in a while. She slid her finger against the screen of her phone brought up the message and chuckled lightly as she read it. Chloe caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she typed out her response and pressed send before her eyes went back to the screen, checking their progress.

There were no alerts pending so Clark and Oliver had put their coms on radio silence a little over ten minutes ago. She let out another sigh, leaning back in her seat, eyes sliding shut as she waited for Lois’s undoubtedly amused response to her text.

______

From his vantage point atop the tallest high rise apartment building in Metropolis, Oliver scanned the quiet streets below him. Not only was there no crime happening that night, there were no people milling around the city. It was like everyone had gotten some kind of memo to stay inside and not make any noise. He could count the number of cars he’d seen in the past hour on one hand and while it was nice not to have to deal with the worst of humanity on a daily basis for a change, it was also really boring.

He’d already run into Clark five separate times as they made their way around the city. Clark had taken care of an armed robbery while Oliver handled a mugging, but other than that, all he had done was jump from one rooftop to the next and wait. It wasn’t that he was wishing for action either. Oliver would rather sit there bored for hours on end than see anyone get hurt, but he couldn’t help feeling like this was some kind of lull before the storm and they were going to get hit with a Kandorian sized curve ball any day now. Things never stayed quiet in Metropolis for this long and when the other shoe did finally drop, he wanted the team to be prepared. 

Sighing, Oliver fired an arrow to the rooftop across the way, watching as the line wrapped tightly around the flagpole. Using his crossbow as an anchor, he slid down the zip line, landing in a barrel roll. Once he was back on his feet, Oliver disconnected the line, holstered his crossbow and made his way to the other side of the roof to scope out the streets from a different angle.

Once again, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He spotted a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and lifted a hand to Clark as he blurred by. Oliver decided he would make his way toward the docks since Clark could handle the main part of the city on his own. He reached for his bow again when he felt his cell phone vibrate against his hip. Pulling it out of his belt, Oliver grinned when he saw Chloe had sent him a text

He knew his wife was every bit as bored as he was and if she was contacting him through a text message instead of the com device, Oliver figured she had something personal to tell him. He ran his gloved finger over the screen and his eyes widened behind his dark glasses when he saw the message.

“He literally didn’t stop until I lost count of how many times he made me orgasm. It took three hours.”

Damn right it did, Oliver thought smugly, a wide grin crossing his face. They’d both taken the night off and let Clark and Tess handle things in the field and at Watchtower. Chloe had suggested Thai food and a movie and they’d watched about ten minutes of it before he’d come up with a different way to spend the evening. She’d teased him, complaining about how she never got to see the end of movies anymore and he’d taken that as a challenge.

He smirked as he read the message again. He knew Chloe tried to avoid feeding his ego whenever she could, but apparently she had no problems sharing his sexual prowess with others. Good to know, he thought.

Oliver started to type out a text to clue her in that she’d sent it to the wrong person and then hesitated. He lifted his eyes from the phone to look at the ivory tower that was only a few blocks away. Maybe the docks could wait and he could stop by and deliver the message in person. After all, it had been awhile since the two of them had been alone in Watchtower and it wasn’t like Clark couldn’t handle things if there was suddenly a mad rush of criminal activity.

He slipped the phone back into his belt and fired an arrow toward the neighboring rooftop. If Chloe was bragging about their night and how amazing he was in bed, the least he could do was give her something new to add to her arsenal.

______

Chloe glanced down at her lap and frowned as she turned her phone over in her hands, making sure it hadn’t suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason. It had been over fifteen minutes since she’d texted Lois and she had yet to receive any kind of humorous reply from her cousin. She groaned, dropping her feet to the ground and pushing herself out of the chair. 

She walked across the room unbuttoning her vest and tossing it on the desk, leaving her in a white blouse as she made her way towards the kitchen. She was bored and since Lois was apparently busy, she needed something to occupy her time. Chloe grumbled as she pulled open the fridge, bending down and rummaging through it, looking for something she could munch on while waiting for the guys to get back.

Oliver made his way into the Watchtower, surprised to find the main room empty. He headed toward the kitchen in the back, stopping short when he found himself staring at his wife’s pert ass as she searched through the refrigerator. Grinning, he made no noise as he crossed the small room to her and placed his hands on her hips. “Hungry?” he asked, his tone deeper than normal as it bounced through his voice distorter.

Chloe jumped slightly, startled by the feel of the hands gripping her hips, body tensing until she heard the distorted voice behind her. She smiled, pulling herself up as she spun around slowly to face him. Her eyes took in his hooded face before drifting down his body that was encased in the form fitting leather.

God, he was gorgeous. There was just something about his uniform that made her mind drift to very naughty places. Her eyes finally made their way back up his body, meeting the dark glasses covering his eyes as a slow smirk slid on to her lips, mischief gleaming in her gaze. “I certainly am now...to what do I owe the pleasure of this little off schedule visit, Arrow?”

He smirked back at her, knowing exactly what was going through her head. Oliver lifted one of his hands from her hip and slowly brushed her hair back from her face, resting his gloved hand against her cheek as his thumb rubbed small circles across her chin. “I had a feeling you were lonely and I thought I could help you out with that.” 

She leaned into his touch, turning her head and pressing a kiss to his palm. “Mmm, I can most definitely use some entertainment, It’s so boring here lately,” She shifted closer to him, her hand sliding up the vest of his uniform as she smirked up at him, “Do tell, how exactly do you plan on making things less boring?”

“Telling is for amateurs, Sidekick,” Oliver replied. His eyes fell to her full lips, his tongue darting out to moisten his as he leaned down. Instead of meeting her mouth, he pressed his lips to her neck, lightly sucking on her pulse point, pleased to feel it beating rapidly beneath his mouth. “I thought we could skip right to the demonstrating.” His hand shifted from her hip to the curve of her ass and he squeezed her flesh gently. 

Chloe’s head fell to the side as she moaned, gripping his midsection and pulling him closer until she was sandwiched between him and the fridge. She tugged at his hood until it fell, sliding her hand into his hair as her heartbeat picked up speed.

It had been a while since he’d surprised her at Watchtower, and she was definitely glad for the distraction. Her voice was slightly breathy when she spoke as she stroked his side. “Is Clark still on patrol? How much time to we have?”

“He’s still out there,” Oliver confirmed. He pulled off his glasses and tossed them on the counter before letting his hand slide down to the top button of her blouse. “We definitely don’t have three hours, but I still think I can make you scream more than once,” he told her confidently as he leaned down and took possession of her mouth.

She returned the kiss, gripping him tighter as she moaned into his mouth, hands traveling up and down his vest until his words registered in her head. She broke the kiss, pulling back slightly, chest rising and falling heavily as she looked up at him, eyes cloudy with lust brows furrowing in confusion. “What did you just say?”

“I said I can still make your scream more than once,” Oliver repeated. His own eyes were nearly black with desire when he lifted his head to meet her heated gaze. “I know you don’t doubt that.” He palmed her breast through her blouse, his thumb moving slowly over her already pebbled nipple. 

“Jesus, Ollie,” she moaned while arching her body forward, pressing herself more firmly against his hand. A wave of moisture pooled in her panties as her body responded to his ministrations. Her thoughts were quickly becoming muddled the more aroused she got, but something about his words was nagging at the back of her head as she reached between them, pinching the zipper of his vest between her fingers and tugging on it slowly. “Someone’s awfully confident tonight,” she managed to get out between sharp breaths.

Oliver’s own breathing was growing more labored as her fingers skimmed his bare skin. He pressed several open-mouthed kisses to her throat, his hands moving to undo the buttons on her blouse. “Why wouldn’t I be cocky? I’ve got a beautiful blonde in my arms that lost count of how many times I satisfied her last night.”

Chloe blinked, one hand freezing against his chest, the other gripping his head and tugging it away from her neck as she leaned back slightly, eyes widening. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm her breathing down as she shifted her legs in an attempt to ease the ache that was growing between them. Her cheeks flushed as she tilted her head to the side and made a face. “Oh my god....” she slapped his chest lightly. “That’s why you came here? You got my text message didn’t you?”

He didn’t even pretend to look sheepish, a wide grin on his face as he stared down at her. “Oh yeah, I got your message.” Oliver’s hands slid down her body to grip her hips, lifting her slightly off her feet and pulling her body closer to his so they were intimately pressed together. “I knew last night was good, Sidekick, but I had no idea you felt the need to tell all your friends just how good it was,” he teased.

Her eyes fluttered closed at the feel of him pressed against her, a low moan leaving her throat, hands gripping his biceps tightly as her head fell back against the fridge lightly. Her legs shifted, automatically spreading wider for him. It took everything in her to focus enough to think up a retort for his comment, when all she really wanted to be doing was him.

She lifted her head, snorted and rolled her eyes in his direction, attempting to keep the desire out of her voice as she spoke. “Please, I was talking to Lois and you know we have a tendency not to like being out done by the other...so I was merely sharing last night’s activities with her so she could see how much better my night was then hers.”

Smirking, Oliver rolled his hips against hers. “Really, Chloe? That’s all it was, an attempt to outdo Lois?” He balanced her body against the refrigerator so his hands were free to resume unbuttoning her blouse. “It had nothing to do with how much pleasure I brought you for hours on end?” He dipped his head and slowly ran his tongue along the curve of her breast. “If that’s the case, you should probably just tell me to stop,” he said as he repeated the action against her other breast. “I’d hate to stand in the way of your bragging.”

Her breathing sped up and she groaned, “You are a horrible man, Oliver Queen...” She raised her hands to his shoulders, leveraging her body between him and the fridge so she could lift herself further up his body, wrapping her legs around his waist, while inadvertently pushing her breasts closer to his face. Chloe ran her tongue over her lips to moisten them. “And Lois will still be around later for me to brag to,” she arched an eyebrow, “So instead of being smug, I suggest you make yourself useful...”

“Gladly,” Oliver agreed. He didn’t hesitate to lower his mouth to her breast, sucking her nipple into his mouth through the lace of her bra while his hand skimmed over her ass again, finding the zipper of her skirt. He was desperate to be inside of her, determined to break his record from the night before. Nothing turned him on more than bringing her pleasure. He loved watching her come apart in his arms, his name falling from her lips over and over again.

She gasped, nails digging into one of his shoulders as the other one slipped between them, palming him through his pants, his name falling from her lips, “Oh god, Ollie...” Chloe had wanted him since the second she had turned around in his arms when he’d first showed up at Watchtower. His hands left a trail of heat against her flesh. He’d barely touched her and she was already so wet. 

She needed him inside of her, foreplay be damned. Chloe moved her hand and was in the process of attempting to undo his leather pants when there was a gust of wind and Clark appeared, frowning when he didn’t see anyone in the main room. He glanced around moving further into the room while calling out, “Chloe you here?”

He heard a scuffling noise and took a few steps towards the kitchen, freezing in his tracks at the sight in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw Chloe pressed against the fridge, legs wrapped around Oliver’s waist. His mouth dropped open and when Chloe’s eyes finally fluttered open and she caught sight of Clark standing behind Oliver she let out a yelp, causing him to detach his mouth from her breast as his head whipped around, eyes widening in surprise when he saw Clark staring at them.

She gripped Oliver tighter as her body tensed while she sent a glare their friend’s way, “CLARK, turn around!” He stumbled back, banging into one of the counters before smacking his hand over his eyes, completely flustered as he spoke. “What are you two doing? Chloe you’re supposed to be guiding us through patrol...that is not...guiding us through anything!”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Oliver drawled. He pulled the sides of Chloe’s blouse together to make it easier for her to button them as he slowly lowered her to the floor, careful to keep a hand on her waist to make sure she got her balance back. Without bothering to fix his own clothes, he turned to face Clark, a smirk on his face when he saw that he had his hand over his eyes even though he was facing away from them. “She was definitely guiding me somewhere.”

Clark let out a grumble as he glared from behind his hand, “I swear the two of you are like a couple of teenagers rutting around all the time. Don’t you do anything else?” He let out an exasperated breath, finally taking his hand away from his face as he spoke impatiently. “Are you decent, can I turn around?”

Oliver turned back to Chloe to make sure her clothes were back in place. Her hair was mussed from his fingers, her cheeks were red and he could see she was still trying to get her breathing back to normal. He licked his lips, his eyes locking with hers as he silently cursed Clark and his bad timing. “You can turn around,” he said. Winking at Chloe, he turned back to Clark with a smile on his face. “Did you need something or did you just stop in to say hi?” 

Clark turned, his arms automatically crossing over his chest as he glared at the blonde in front of him. “No, I didn’t stop in to say hi. Some of us were trying to follow protocol and check in after finishing patrol, unlike you who apparently ducked out to have a quickie with your wife.” He took a deep breath, remembering his talk with Lois not long ago about how he needed to stop lecturing Chloe and Oliver. 

He let it out, his shoulders slumping slightly, “Guys...Watchtower is supposed to be the team’s headquarters...if you insist on,” he motioned towards them, “doing what you do here then you can’t get angry when someone accidentally walks in.”

Since Clark wasn’t being a buzz kill for a change, Oliver decided not to remark that part of his protocol involved sexing up his wife when he finished patrol. “Point taken,” he said as he wrapped his arm around Chloe’s shoulders. “Were there any incidents we need to know about?” he asked

Chloe smiled up at Oliver as she wrapped an arm around his waist, leaning into his body as Clark rolled his eyes. “No, just another mugging...but I took care of it. Now if you don’t mind since I did my job, I’ll be heading to the Planet to pick up my fiancée and head home.” He gave them a tight smile and waved slightly. “See you guy’s later...hopefully fully clothed next time...”

Oliver rolled his eyes as Clark sped away, not surprised that the other man had decided to get one last dig in before he left. He glanced down at his wife, arching an eyebrow. “What do you say we head home, Sidekick and I can show you just how well I do my job?” he suggested.

She smirked, taking his hand and tugging him forward as she walked backwards so she was facing him. “I say you’re on, Hero, though I don’t know how that’s going to work out for you, I mean you’ve set the bar pretty high...do you actually think you can top last night? I’m not so sure...” She caught his gaze, mischief dancing in her eyes, knowing she was pushing his buttons.

He laughed at the look on her face, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Careful, Chloe.” Oliver tugged on her hand, pulling her back toward him so he could wrap his arms around her waist. “You know better than anyone how I get when I’m presented with a challenge.” He leaned down, brushing his lips against hers in a whisper of a kiss. “I’d hate for you to have to call in sick tomorrow because you can’t walk.” He traced her lips with his tongue, his eyes never leaving hers.

Her eyes darkened as she caught his bottom lip between her teeth lightly, sucking on it for a minute before releasing it, breath hitting his mouth as she spoke, voice low, “Oh, husband of mine...you’re way too cocky for your own good. You know that don’t you?”

“Yes,” Oliver replied bluntly. He grinned at her, gently brushing a piece of hair from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear. “But would you have me be any other way?” he asked. Her face softened as a warm smile broke out on her face. “Never, I love you exactly the way you are...abnormally large ego and all.” 

“Good to know.” Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Oliver put his arm around her shoulders again and steered her toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before someone else tries to interrupt our night.”


	6. Blame it on Bart

Mia let out a quiet sigh as she sat on the couch listening to Chloe and Victor drone on about some kind of computer upgrades for the system that they were going to be setting into motion soon. She had her elbow on the armrest, her hand holding up her head as her eyes starting drooping shut. Her head slipped off her hand and she jerked awake, eyes wide as she glanced around the room checking to see if anyone had noticed what happened.

 

From the looks of it, everyone else was just as bored as she was. Oliver was leaning against the desk, arms crossed over his chest, expression what she assumed was supposed to be attentive, while Clark sat in one of the chairs that Chloe had arranged near the screens, Lois by his side. Her eyes shifted to the end of the couch where Bart sat shoveling food into his mouth, as per usual. Courtney was on her other side in a chair while Carter was closest to Victor and Chloe.

 

As far as meetings went, this was probably the most boring one she’d been to. There was absolutely nothing going on in Metropolis lately. It was officially the most boring place ever. It was like someone just swooped in and got rid of all the baddies. Mia groaned softly as Victor started on a brand new diatribe about security or something. At this point, she wasn’t even listening anymore.

 

She was just about to let her eyes drift shut again when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her back pocket. She glanced to her side, shifting slightly so she could reach in and pull it out. She slid her finger over the touch screen and saw the new message bubble blinking on her screen. She opened the message and grinned down before sending a sideways glance to Courtney. Mia smirked, typing out her message and sending it to the blonde beside her before laying her phone on her lap and waiting for a response.

 

Courtney caught the look on Mia’s face out of the corner of her eye and felt the phone in her hand vibrate a few seconds later. She kept her eyes on Chloe and Victor for a moment, nodding her head slightly at whatever it was they were saying. She glanced over at Carter to make sure he wasn’t watching her and slid her finger over the screen on her phone to display Mia’s response. The words on the screen had a bubble of laughter rising up in her throat and she firmly bit down on her lip to keep herself from making any noise.

 

She had spent her entire life wanting to be part of a group like this and now that she was, she didn’t want to do anything that would make Carter or anyone else think that she was too young or not mature enough to handle it. But as far as meetings went, this one was slightly more interesting than watching paint dry and she needed to do something to keep herself from face planting right off the chair.

 

Still biting her lip, Courtney typed out a response and pressed send. She knew better than to glance at Mia again and instead picked a spot on the far wall to stare at as she waited for the brunette’s response.

 

Bart dug his hand into the bag of chips and frowned when he hit the bottom of the empty bag. He took his hand out and glanced inside, hints of crumbs scattered at the bottom. His face fell. How had he eaten all those chips so quickly? He let out a quiet grunt. It was this stupid meeting. He needed to have his hands occupied so he didn’t rip off his own ears.

 

Bart hadn’t been this bored since the last time Victor attempted to make him sit through one of his stupid computer programming lectures. He tossed the bag on the table by his side before his gaze drifted around the room, taking in his teammates. At least he wasn’t the only one who looked bored.

 

He glanced over his shoulder, eyes falling on Mia and he arched his eyebrow. The tiny brunette was looking up at Chloe and Victor but her fingers were moving quickly across the keys of her phone that was situated on her lap. He watched her head duck down, as her hand came up to feigning scratching her neck so she could glance at the phone.

 

He could see the hint of a grin on her face as she glanced back up at their blabbering team members up front. His eyes were drawn to Courtney, who was now looking down also. He pursed his lips curiosity in his gaze. Hmm, it looked like the girls were up to something...he wondered what it was.

 

Lois’s attention was drawn to the sound of the bag crunching when Bart tossed it aside. She narrowed her eyes at the little man, not surprised that he had already eaten the entire bag even though they had only been sitting there for less than an hour. Then again, it felt more like twelve. She turned her attention to Clark, wondering if he was listening as intently as he seemed to be or if he was secretly listening for the sounds of trouble outside the walls. She wouldn’t blame him if it was the latter.

 

While it was nice finally being in the loop, Lois would much rather have been at the Planet and just gotten the cliff notes version of this particular meeting. She loved her cousin, but there was nothing remotely interesting about the new computer system. She was pretty sure Victor was the only actually listening and since he was participating in the presentation, Lois decided that didn’t count. She glanced at Oliver to see if he was following along and judging by the glassy look in his eyes, she figured he was probably just picturing Chloe naked. She sent him a disapproving look and caught sight of Courtney smiling.

 

Well that was strange, Lois thought as she shifted in her chair to get a better look at the teenager. Even Chloe and Victor weren’t smiling as they spoke, so whatever she was up to had nothing to do with the meeting. She saw her glance up and then nonchalantly look at her phone before letting her head fall forward, her shoulders shaking slightly as she tried to hold in her laughter.

 

Lois wondered what was so funny and was tempted to ask her because even something that made a teenager laugh had to be better than circuit breakers or hard drives or whatever it was that Chloe was describing as she gestured to the screen. Her eyes drifted past Courtney and she saw that Mia was also looking down at her phone with a smirk on her face. She wondered if they would be willing to forward the messages to her.

 

Carter blinked at the sound of something being dropped on the computer console in front of him and his eyes drifted to the offending object. Apparently Victor had brought out a prop, lovely. He continued looking at the two people running the meeting while he categorized this list of things he had to do when he got back to the museum in his head.

 

He was also pretty sure he had to run to the super market and do a little shopping. He wondered if Courtney had made a list of things she wanted. He shifted in his seat and glanced over his shoulder at the teenager, pausing and frowning slightly at her ducked head. He sent a sideways glance back toward Chloe and Victor to make sure they weren’t looking at Courtney, before looking back at the blonde, who had just sent a gaze to her left.

 

Carter’s eyes shifted and he saw Mia smile before her hands started moving against the phone in her lap. He shook his head slightly, turning back around in his seat, eyes once again on the front of the room. Ever since Mia had made her way back to Metropolis, she and Courtney had stuck up a quick friendship.

 

It made for some quite a bit of teenage scheming, especially in the past few weeks with the lack of criminal activity. Teenagers were a lot more trouble than he thought they were. It was a sad day when he wished they had a mugging or bank robbery to take care of so he didn’t have to deal with the boredom of his charge. Whatever they were up to though, by the looks on their faces, at least they were entertained, which was more than he could say for himself.

 

Oliver smirked at the wince on Carter’s face as the older man looked back and forth between the texting teenagers. He knew Big Bird was probably worried they were plotting some kind of house party at his museum for the weekend. The man had no problem wielding a mace or tossing innocent people through stained glass windows, but put him in a room with two teenage girls talking loudly and he instantly looked like he was wishing he was back fighting the Nazis.

 

His gaze shifted to Bart and Oliver noticed he too seemed more interested in whatever Courtney and Mia were doing than he was in the presentation Chloe and Victor were giving. Oliver couldn’t really blame him. He was doing his best to listen and he’d caught at least half of what they were saying, but as far as he was concerned, he’d already signed the check to pay for the upgrades, so his work was done.

 

He shifted against the desk, his eyes falling on Chloe again as she gestured to the screen. Oliver smiled as he watched her, knowing she was in her element with all the computer talk. His eyes drifted lower, roaming over the slit in the side of her skirt that gave him a nice view of her thigh each time she moved. He’d ignored the disapproving looks Lois had shot him earlier. Obviously she was spending too much time with Clark if she suddenly had issues with him checking out his own wife.

 

Clark pursed his lips as he watched Victor showing them how the computer system was going to work by demonstrating on the laptop he’d placed in front of them. He honestly had no idea what they were talking about. He’d been trying to listen to them, but kept getting constantly distracted by all of the sounds around him.

 

First it was the sounds of the cars moving outside, then a couple in a building not far from Watchtower having an argument about who ate the last of the cereal and then it was just random things happening around the city. Clark swallowed heavily and glanced to his side, his eyes falling on his fiancée. She looked incredibly bored and he almost felt bad for insisting she come along... _almost._

Clark shifted in his seat, tilting his head towards Lois and opening his mouth to whisper something to her when his phone went off in his pocket, the ringer sounding through the entire room drawing everyone’s attention to him. He sat up straight and glanced up at Victor and Chloe giving them a sheepish look. “Sorry guys, I guess I forgot to turn the ringer off, I still don’t really know how to work this thing.”

 

He glanced down at the phone, frowning as he pushed a few buttons; Bart chuckling in the background at his lack of cell phone knowledge. Clark finally got the message open and his eyes widened, everyone’s eyes still on him, most likely mocking him.

 

Confusion crossed his face, “What in the world... _95 percent of the time tickle wars end in sex_?” He read out loud, his voice an octave higher than normal as Mia choked on the water she had been taking a sip of. Clark turned to face the three teenagers behind him before his eyes landed on Mia, “Uh...I’m not exactly sure what that’s supposed to mean...” his voice trailed off awkwardly.

 

Oliver snorted as he watched the color rising in Clark’s cheeks. “I’d say that’s accurate, right, Sidekick?” He winked at his wife. “But is there a reason you wanted Clark to know that, Mia?” he asked. Chloe chuckled and sent a wink his way, “You bet it is Hero.” She leaned back against the console and Mia rolled her eyes affectionately at their banter before glancing at Oliver.

 

She tilted her head to the side and made a face as she spoke, “Uh, I think we both know that message wasn’t for _Clark_...stupid phone...why in the world would I send that to him?” She scratched the back of her neck lightly. Normally she’d be more embarrassed, but she was too busy thanking the technology gods that he hadn’t gotten the message she sent before that one.

 

“Well obviously it was for Courtney,” Lois broke in. She glanced over her shoulder at Victor. “You really need to fix these phones.” She turned back to the teenagers again before he had a chance to respond. “My question is what brought up this little knowledge nugget?” Her gaze shifted to Bart. “Any ideas?” she asked him.

 

All eyes turned to Bart and he gulped slightly, sitting up straight and chuckling nervously as he shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about...why is everyone looking at me like that?”

 

“It wasn’t about Bart!” Courtney said quickly. Her face was already bright red and she felt her cheeks growing even hotter as most of the eyes in the room shifted from Bart to her. “We were just talking. It wasn’t about anything or anyone in particular.” Careful to avoid Bart’s gaze, she turned to Chloe and Victor. “I’m sorry we interrupted your meeting.”

 

Chloe bit her lip to keep from laughing at the obvious embarrassment on the teenager’s face. She smiled and shrugged. “It’s okay; technically _you_ weren’t the one who interrupted the meeting.” She turned her gaze on Clark and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I said I was sorry for that...I haven’t figured the new phone out yet.”

 

Bart snorted, and sent a grin in Clark’s direction. “Please, you couldn't work the last phone either.” Mia chuckled before glancing at Lois, brows furrowed, “Why would you think it had something to do with Bart?” The brunette knew that Courtney had a crush on Bart, but she wasn’t aware that anyone else knew that.

 

Lois hesitated. She’d blamed Bart because it amused her to see the kid squirm, especially with Carter in the room, knowing how protective he was of Courtney. But she hadn’t realized the younger woman might actually have a thing for Bart until she’d seen her blushing redder than Clark’s favorite t-shirt. “Oh, that just seems like one of those useless facts he’s always spouting off when he’s trying to impress everyone,” she said. Even as the words came out of mouth, she knew she was only making things worse. “Clark, you really need to learn how to use a cell phone.”

 

Clark opened his mouth, but Carter cut him off as he stood, arms crossing over his chest as he glared at Bart. “Those are the kinds of facts you talk about to impress people?” His eyes turned to slits as he squinted at the younger man. “Are those the kinds of things you tell Courtney when you’re hanging out at the apartment?”

 

Bart cleared his throat. This wasn’t good. So maybe he’d been hanging out with Courtney more than usual lately, but she was interesting and fun and holy crap Carter was going to kill him. He stood up and seconds later was standing by Oliver as he shook his head. “No...no…I never say things like that to Courtney...I’m going to go ahead and blame this one on Mia.”

 

The brunette threw up her arms and glared at him. “Why is it always my fault?” Bart shrugged as he pointed at Carter. “Because he likes you better than me and Oliver would be more likely to defend you than me because it amuses him when people are angry at me...so you’re just the better choice here.”

 

“Yet you’re still choosing to cower behind me like I’m going to protect you from Big Bird?” Oliver eyed the younger man incredulously. “You clearly haven’t thought this one through, have you? Maybe next time you decide it’s a good idea to come into our penthouse without knocking first, you’ll remember this moment.”

 

He gave Bart another stern look before shifting his attention to Carter. “Don’t get your feathers ruffled, Grandpa. People send text messages to one another. It’s harmless. No need to get the mace.” Oliver did enjoy teasing Bart, but he could see that Carter was well on his way to overreacting and he needed to draw his attention elsewhere.

 

Carter turned his glare on Oliver ad arched an eyebrow, “Do you really want to talk about how harmless text messages are, Green Jeans?” He gave him a look, knowing that the younger man would know exactly what he was talking about. His eyes shifted back to Bart giving him a stern look, “There will be no fraternizing between team members,” he spun around, glancing at Mia before his eyes came to rest on Courtney. “Got it?”

 

“Carter!” Courtney cried, her cheeks flaming even hotter. She was beyond embarrassed at this point and the fact that everyone in the room probably knew now that she had feelings for Bart - including Bart - made her wish the floor would swallow her. “If you must know, Mia and I were trading random facts that we saw on Good Morning Metropolis last week.”

 

“Ugh, that show is a joke,” Lois interjected. She slapped Clark’s shoulder lightly, careful not to hit him too hard and break her hand. “Remember when we auditioned to host it? That would have been a disaster.” She smiled, her gaze shifting to Oliver. “Speaking of disasters, Queen, what is this text message Carter is talking about?” she asked.

 

“Never mind,” Oliver replied. He glared at Lois before turning his attention back to Chloe and Victor. “Why don’t you two finish the presentation and then Victor can fix the problem with the phones once and for all?” he suggested.

 

Carter opened his mouth to protest, but Chloe spoke quickly, “Actually you know what, we’re done...mostly.” She glanced around the room and gave everyone a tight smile. “And yet no one is getting up...well if you want Vic and me to tell you more...” Before her sentence was even finished, Clark, Mia and Bart were all standing. Carter let out a sigh, but the tension hadn’t left his shoulders.

 

Bart had been planning on asking if the girls wanted to grab pizza, but now that plan wasn’t looking like such a good idea; especially with the way Carter was glaring at him. Clark broke the silence in the room, his arm going to the small of Lois’s back. “Why don’t we head out?”

 

“That’s a good idea, Smallville,” Lois agreed. She leaned against him as they made their way toward the door, glancing back at Oliver. “I still want to know about that text message. If you don’t tell me, Chloe will.”

 

Oliver rolled his eyes and smirked at her. “I’m well aware of the kinds of text messages my wife sends you,” he said smugly.

 

Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes. Of course he’d bring that up. “Not anymore I don’t, wouldn’t want to accidentally _stroke_ your ego anymore than I already do.” She sent him a cheeky grin before turning back to the computer console, helping Victor clear some things up.

 

Still grinning, Oliver reached into his wallet and pulled out several bills. He held them out to Mia. “Why don’t the three of you grab some dinner? I’m sure Big Bird has some boring stuff he has to take care of at his museum. Vic, you hungry?” he asked.

 

Victor glanced up from the computer. He didn’t particularly like the idea of having dinner with two teenagers and Bart. They were a lot to take when they weren’t all riled up. He shifted his gaze to Carter. “Do you need some help at the museum? I wanted to go over the computer program I worked up to log the artifacts with you anyway.” Carter might be grumpy, but he’d take that over the other three any day.

 

Carter looked away from the teenagers, hesitating slightly before nodding. He was pretty sure that the other man had no desire to spend the rest of the night with the teenagers and honestly he didn’t have the energy for it either. “That would be very helpful, thank you, Victor.”

 

Mia smiled at Oliver, “Thanks,” she turned and walked towards Courtney giving the blonde a sympathetic look and a small smile, “Dinner? Apparently Oliver’s buying.”

 

Courtney managed to give her a small smile in return; grateful the room had cleared out so quickly. “Sounds like fun,” she agreed. Before she could lose her nerve, she turned to Bart who was still standing close to Oliver even though Carter was nearly at the door. “Would you like to come with us?” she asked hopefully.

 

Bart grinned as he moved out from behind Oliver, “You bet your sweet...” he paused giving a sideways glance towards the door before clearing his throat, “I mean sure...yeah sounds good.” He stepped forward and put an around both girls as he steered them towards the door. “What are we thinking Italian...Chinese...or Mexican?”

 

Oliver rolled his eyes as he watched the three of them walk out. Something told him this would not be the last they’d be hearing about Bart and Courtney. It was a good thing the kid was fast, but he wasn’t sure that was enough to deter Carter. Pushing himself away from the desk, he walked over to the console where Chloe stood and wrapped his arms around her from behind, dropping his head to rest on her shoulder as she worked. “Sorry the meeting got away from you,” he said.

 

She shrugged, sighing and turning in his arms. She glanced up at him, pouting slightly. “It’s okay...the team was getting that glazed over ‘I’m bored’ look anyway. You guys just don’t know how to appreciate the awesomeness of our computer system.”

 

He laughed softly, rubbing his nose against hers before placing a quick kiss on her lips. “As long as you’re happy with it, I’m happy.” Oliver frowned when he spotted Chloe’s cell phone sitting on the console beside the computer. “I just realized Victor left without fixing the phones. We’ve been pretty lucky so far that nothing earth shattering has gone to the wrong person but this whole wires crossed thing is going to get old fast.”

 

Chloe glanced at the console and glared at the phone as she ran her hands up and down his arms. “At least it doesn’t only hate me and I’m pretty sure this has already gotten old...for the record I hate the new phones,” She glanced back at Oliver, wrapping her arms around his neck, a grin pulling at her lips as she leaned up, pressing a kiss against his jaw, “But I like you...”

 

“Mmm, I like you too.” He slid his hand into her hair and pressed light kisses to her forehead and her nose before covering her mouth with his in a lingering kiss. “Unfortunately, we just unintentionally gave everyone the night off which means I’m going to have to suit up and patrol. Want to be the voice in my ear?” he asked.

 

She let out a short breath, leaning up and moving her mouth to his ear, voice soft. “I always want to be the voice in your ear...” She slipped her hands down his arms to his midsection. “My vote is you suit up, patrol and then Green Arrow can come pay me a visit.” She waggled her eyebrows while sending a smirk in his direction.

 

Grinning, he leaned down and kissed her again. “Well if that’s the case, maybe you should come back to the penthouse with me and run point from there. I don’t need another Clark Kent lecture about how Watchtower is not our personal sex cave. Did I tell you he called it that the other day?” he asked.

 

Chloe chuckled and arched an eyebrow, “Our sex cave…?” She gave him a thoughtful look, “Hmm, I kind of like it. I mean we _have_ had sex all over Watchtower...but more accurately that would make this our sex tower...since well, it’s not technically a cave.”

 

Oliver laughed. “Make sure you clarify that for Clark next time you see him. Also, make sure I’m around to see it because I don’t want to miss the look on his face.” He draped his arm over her shoulders and grabbed her cell phone and laptop with his free hand. “Ready to go?”

 

She nodded wrapping an arm around his waist as she smirked. “Yup, and I just want to let you know now, as an incentive to get home early I’m pondering walking you through your patrol from the laptop in bed completely naked...just thought I’d put that out there.”

 

Groaning at the mental image that popped into his head, Oliver tightened his grip on her as they walked toward the door. “Keep it up, Sidekick and neither one of us is going to make it out of the elevator, let alone me going on patrol.” Sometimes Oliver wondered if she was trying to kill him with the ideas she put in his head.

 

She sent him a sideways glance, leaning into him as they walked out into the hallway. “Mmm, you know I didn’t even consider that. How horrible would it be if we didn’t make it out of the elevator?” She raised a hand to her chest, voice shocked, while her eyes danced with mirth.

 

“Things have been slow lately,” Oliver commented. He glanced down at her, his own eyes filled with amusement. “I suppose Clark will hear if anyone calls for help and really, it’s not our fault the elevator stopped working...”

 

She nodded. “I’m sure he will and damn that elevator always breaking down...” She nudged him, “Come on, speed it up, I’m bored. I’m telling you; I’m convinced that the criminal element of Metropolis is hiding out specifically so that we can come up with new and exciting places to have sex...”

 

“You’re bored?” Oliver’s mouth fell into a well-practiced pout that he would deny making until his dying day. “I sat through an hour of listening to you and Vic talk about computer parts but two minutes of talking to your husband bores you? That hurts, Chloe.” He pushed the button for the elevator, keeping his eyes on the metal doors in front of them while they waited for the elevator to come back up from the ground floor.

 

Chloe snorted, “Please, I wouldn’t have married you if you bored me,” She rolled her eyes affectionately, gripping his arm with both hands, lifting herself onto her toes and pressing a kiss against his cheek.  “And stop pouting I swear...you’re so dramatic...”

 

“I wasn’t pouting,” Oliver replied defensively as the elevator doors opened. “But if you’re sure being around me all night won’t put you into a coma, I suppose I can skip patrolling and we can find other ways to keep ourselves occupied.” He glanced at her as he pressed the button for the ground floor, his lips curving into a smile at the look on her face. “Have I told you lately that you’re adorable when you’re lecturing me for being dramatic?” he teased.

 

She let out an exasperated sigh, leaning against the back of the elevator as she met his gaze, the pout he wore just moments before now on her lips. “I changed my mind. I don’t like you anymore.”

 

“Liar.” Oliver moved toward her, caging her body between his and the wall of the elevator. He lifted his hand to her face and gently caressed her cheek. “It’s your call, Chloe. What do you want to do when we get home?” he asked, his dark eyes staring intensely into hers as his fingers continued to glide softly over her skin.

 

She pressed her body against his, one hand sliding up and gripping the back of his neck as she shifted her head kissing him palm, voice quiet as the elevator jerked to a start. “I want to spend the night with my husband,” her palm slid around to the side of his face as she brushed a thumb against his cheek leaning forward pressing a light kiss over his lips.

 

“Good answer,” Oliver whispered against her mouth before he deepened the kiss.

 


	7. Rumor Has It

Tess arched an eyebrow, a scowl on her face as Kat Grant stood in her office droning incessantly about the story she had written about raccoons being treated unfairly in the city. The twit had somehow taken a piece that should have been a three paragraph blurb in the city hall section and turned it into a 3,000 word narrative. The copy editor had brought it to Tess’s attention and she had instantly cut the entire thing rather than deal with explaining to Kat why no one cared. That should have been the end of it, but the blonde was still whining about it.

 

She opened her mouth to cut the woman off before she started with the tears, but her cell phone vibrated, distracting her. Tess swallowed hard when she saw Emil’s name on the caller ID. Their morning conversation had been tense to say the least and she wasn’t exactly sure where they stood at the moment. Ignoring Kat’s presence completely, Tess opened the message. The words on the screen were reassuring and she let out a small sigh, wondering how something that had started as a drunken night had progressed to the point where she was actually starting to find herself invested, something she swore she would never be again considering the way her last relationship ended.

 

Of course, she was fairly certain that Emil was not going to burn half her face off and leave her for dead.

 

Kat’s voice was getting higher pitched and Tess glanced up at her, saw the tears pooling in her eyes and immediately turned her attention back to the phone. She wanted to make sure Emil understood that she was not going to dwell on it or act like an overly emotional female like the twit in front of her. She typed out a message, hit send and raised her eyes to Kat again, prepared to take what was left of her bad morning out on the silly woman who needed to learn when to shut up.

 

______

 

Clark held the medium sized binder in his arms as he made his way past Oliver’s secretary, who had waved him through with a smile on her face while talking on the phone. He returned the smile before knocking on Oliver’s door, pushing it open and walking inside the office. Lois had been getting on his case to meet up with Oliver and hash out some of the best man details for the wedding.

 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get together with Oliver; he’d just been busy at the Planet and with Lois. Plus, unless Oliver was on patrol or at the office it was hard to find a time that he wasn’t with Chloe. But today his fiancée had kidnapped her cousin and dragged her off to do some wedding planning. So he and Oliver had decided to meet up for lunch and go over some of the finer details for what Oliver’s best man duties entailed, according to Lois.

 

He saw his friend sitting behind his desk, glancing down at something in front of him. “Hey, Oliver, how’s it going?”

 

Oliver looked up from the contract he’d been reading, blinking a few times to clear the haze that had settled over his eyes. He’d been going over the document for nearly an hour and the legalese was starting to fry his brain. “Hey man, good timing,” he said as he closed the folder in front of him and slipped it into the top drawer to deal with later. He nodded toward the binder in Clark’s hand. “What’s that?”

 

Clark winced as he sat down in one of the seats in front of the desk and held up the binder. “This is one of the wedding binders...it’s all organized and stuff with things I’m supposed to talk to you about,” he shook his head slightly as he leaned forward.

 

“I love Lois, more than anything, but be very happy you were spared the actual planning of a wedding...I almost wish alcohol worked on me at this point. She’s very... _precise_ with what she wants. Which I guess is good...” His voice trailed off as he leaned back in the seat and gave Oliver a tired look.

 

Oliver bit back a laugh even as he sent his friend a sympathetic look. He knew Lois had earned her Mad Dog Lane nickname and he had witnessed some of the crazy things she had put Chloe through so he could only imagine what Clark was going through living and working with her twenty-four hours a day.

 

“I have to agree with you on that one,” Oliver said. He leaned back in his chair, a smile on his face as he thought about his own wedding. He still had no idea what had happened aside from the little things they had picked up from Emil’s video, but the end result was all that mattered to him. “So, what is on Lois’s agenda for us today?” he asked.

 

Clark sighed while opening the binder and going through the pages and pulling out the list. He shifted forward and put the list on Oliver’s desk. “Today we are supposed to bond and discuss the rings and your suit and I don’t even know something about the vows maybe? But I can handle those on my own. So let’s just cross that off the list and if Lois happens to ask we’ll just...say we talked about it.”

 

“Bond?” Oliver repeated, raising his eyebrow at his friend. “Should we start by braiding each other’s hair or skip right to the part where we hold hands around the campfire and sing about being friends forever?” he quipped.

 

Clark pursed his lips and shrugged as he pointed to the piece of paper on he’d put on Oliver’s desk. “Hey mock all you want, but she actually put _bonding_ on the list...in big bold letters, I couldn’t even make that up if I tried.” He pushed his glasses up on his nose, “Apparently she thinks we aren’t close enough and since we’re going to be family soon, her words not mine, she said we need to work on that for when there are family events.”

 

He frowned in confusion, “She keeps tossing around family holidays and family vacations...we’re just two people and somehow I feel like the four of us taking a vacation together would just be asking for trouble.”

 

“Yeah, no offense man, but I think I’d rather go a few more rounds with Zod than take another couples’ vacation with you and Lois,” Oliver replied. He still had nightmares about the first accidental vacation they’d taken together at the McDougal Inn. He loved his friends and they were closer than they’d ever been, but half the point of a vacation would be getting the hell away from all of them. The other half would be nothing but naked time with Chloe and he’d prefer it be uninterrupted time.

 

He glanced at the list Clark had laid out in front of him. “All right, I can call the jeweler I used for mine and Chloe’s rings. He’s in Star City but obviously it won’t be difficult for you to pop over there to look at his stuff. I’ve got a tailor too so we’re all set on that.” Oliver looked up at Clark with a grin on his face. “Less than five minutes and the list is complete. What do you want to do for lunch?” he asked.

 

Clark grinned, chuckling lightly, “If I haven’t said this lately, I’m glad you’re my best man and as far as lunch goes I haven’t eaten since I went on a donut run for Lois this morning so I’m not picky. Any kind of food will do.” He took the binder and placed it on the chair next to him as he looked back up at his friend. “Anything particular you’re in the mood for?”

 

“The Mexican place across the street is pretty good,” Oliver said. He rose from his chair, buttoning up his sports coat as he slipped his cell phone in his pocket. “Chances are good Bart will be there. I’ve been there three times since it opened at different hours of the day and he popped up each time.” He paused, frowning. “And somehow I ended up with the bill for his food too...”

 

Clark grinned as he stood and gave Oliver a look, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he does that on purpose...but Mexican sounds good.” He had just taken a step away from his seat when his phone went off in his pocket. He fished around in his pocket and pulled it out, running his finger over the screen as he frowned. “I still don’t like these phones...I don’t know why they have to be so complicated.”

 

He continued talking as he opened the message, “I mean what ever happened to the good old flip...” His voice trailed off and his face paled slightly as his eyes glanced at the message on his screen. He sucked in a deep breath and reread it.

 

_“Everyone needs a good pregnancy scare in their life---”_

Pregnancy scare? Why was Tess sending him messages about...oh god was Lois _pregnant_?

 

Oliver frowned as he watched the color drain right out of Clark’s face. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” He pulled out his own phone to make sure he hadn’t missed any texts from Chloe.

 

“Pregnant...” Clark’s blurted the word out, his head jerking up so he was looking at Oliver. He held up his phone, “Tess just texted me...about everyone needing a pregnancy scare, oh my god,” He gave Oliver a panicked look, “Do you think Lois is pregnant?”

 

“Wait, Tess texted you to tell you that Lois was pregnant?” Oliver’s head was spinning as he tried to decipher Clark’s panicked words. “Why would Tess know before you? Why wouldn’t Chloe tell me?” His eyes widened as he thought about Lois being pregnant with Clark’s baby. Was that even possible? He frowned as Clark continued waving the phone in the air. He’d never really given it much thought but considering Clark was an alien...”How does that work?” he asked curiously.

 

Clark blinked and looked at Oliver, “What? How does what work?” His brows furrowed as he waved Oliver’s question off and kept talking. “I have no idea why Tess would know before me...and Chloe and Lois are together...oh my god maybe that’s why she’s been talking about family stuff...”

 

He glanced back at Oliver, eyes comically wide, “I think she might have even mentioned kids once...about how our kid and your kid were going to be just like her and Chloe growing up...I didn’t...I mean...I need to find Lois.”

 

“Our kid?” Oliver repeated, his eyes widening. “I think you and Lois are jumping the gun, Boy Scout. Chloe and I are not having kids anytime soon. We haven’t even talked about the idea of kids...” He loosened his tie and tugged at his collar, wondering when it had gotten so hot in his office. “But that’s beside the point. We all know the phones have been messed up lately. Tess probably wasn’t texting you so there’s no reason to assume Lois is pregnant. Don’t you think she would have told you before mentioning it to Tess? They’re not exactly best friends,” he reminded him.

 

Clark snorted, “Well with the way you two go at it, it wouldn’t shock me if you had a kid sooner than expected.” A new theory dawned in his head and he pointed at Oliver. “You’re right...the phones have been messing up and maybe that text wasn’t for me...maybe it was for _you_. Chloe and Tess are friends.”

 

He nodded his head, liking this theory way better than the thought of Lois being pregnant when they weren’t even married yet. “Chloe spends more time with Tess than anyone else because of Watchtower...and as for Lois...I’d like to think she’d tell me first but I feel like she might freak out and tell Chloe first...”

 

His nerves were getting the better of him and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. What exactly would happen if it _was_ Lois and she was pregnant with a half alien baby...was that even possible? He needed to find out what was going on and now.

 

Oliver brought his hands up to his temples, rubbing circles against his head to try and ease the sudden pounding that had taken up residence in his skull. He only heard about half of what Clark was saying after he got past the part about how he and Chloe could end up with a kid sooner rather than later. Chloe was on the pill and he knew she never forgot to take it, but what if Clark was right? Weren’t people always saying no birth control method was fool proof?

 

He found himself back in his chair without realizing he had sat down, or more accurately fallen back against the leather. It would make more sense for Chloe to be the one who was pregnant, but Oliver still didn’t think she would say something to Tess before she told him. But Clark was right. Chloe and Tess spent a lot of time together at Watchtower and Tess might have figured it out.

 

No, he was being crazy. Oliver shook his head to clear his thoughts and pointed at Clark. “I think you were right the first time. Lois is pregnant. She probably told Chloe and Tess found out on her own. She’s good at that. Chloe is not pregnant,” he said firmly.

 

“No...No, Lois can’t be pregnant...I...I’m an _ALIEN_....yeah...I bet we can’t even, you know, intermingle or whatever...yeah...it’s not Lois...” He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “We aren’t even married yet...we need time to settle in...No, it’s Chloe. It just makes more sense.”

 

He nodded, catching the expression on Oliver’s face. Clark paused, arching an eyebrow while crossing his arms over his chest and studying the other man. “Do I detect a hint of fear in your voice? What’s the matter, Oliver? Afraid of kids?”

 

“No, I’m not afraid of kids,” Oliver snapped. He’d never actually been around kids or seen any up close, but they seemed harmless enough from a distance. “But Chloe and I already have an entire team of children that we’re responsible for without throwing a baby into the mix.” He fixed Clark with a pointed look. “Besides, I know my wife. If she was pregnant, I would know.” Chloe told him everything and vice versa. Oliver had no doubt that she would tell him if she found out she was pregnant.

 

Unless she thought he would have a bad reaction. Oliver chewed on the inside of his cheek as a new possibility occurred to him. They had never talked about kids and maybe Chloe wasn’t sure how he’d react. Considering the mini freak-out he was having at the moment, maybe she had known exactly how he would react. Chloe knew him better than he knew himself and if she thought he’d react badly, maybe she wanted to talk to Lois and Tess first.

 

“I need to find Chloe,” Oliver said. He jumped out of his chair, fresh determination washing over him. If she was pregnant, he wanted to make sure she knew he would be there for her every step of the way, even if the idea of a baby scared the hell out of him. He glared at Clark. “Why are you just standing there? Let’s go!”

 

______

 

Chloe chuckled as she glanced at Lois while they made their way through Watchtower’s double doors. They had spent most of the morning going through her cousin’s check list, making sure everything was being ordered correctly, picking out flowers and tasting different foods. Chloe had never felt so full and she was pretty sure the last thing she ate was bad since her stomach was in all kinds of knots.

 

She dropped the bags she was carrying on the desk and chuckled. She was pretty sure she had spent more than she’d intended to, something she blamed entirely on her cousin. Every time they went out together, she was always convincing her to buy thing she didn’t need, but at the same time it a nice way for them to have fun during their down time.  “Was it really necessary to stop at that lingerie boutique on the way home, Lo?”

 

“The answer to that question is always, yes, cuz.” Lois tossed her bags on the couch and dropped down beside them. Wedding planning was exhausting, even if she did have an entire team of people at her disposal to help her. She kicked off her heels and pulled her legs up under her body as she smirked at her cousin. “Besides, I’m sure Ollie will thank me.”

 

Chloe smirked and lifted herself up on her desk. “He’ll probably just ruin them anyway...depending on his mood.” She let out an amused sigh. “All that money...wasted.” She laughed lightly and nodded toward Lois’s bags. “Did you get everything you needed and how’d you like the catering place?”

 

Lois snorted. “Good thing he’s a billionaire and can afford to buy you new ones. Although, Smallville has ruined his fair share of my clothes and I can’t say that I mind.” She sent her cousin a wicked smile. “Except that one red teddy I was really fond of.” Her smile faded into a pout as she leaned back against the couch. “The food was good. Probably too good,” she added, rubbing a hand over her stomach. She was used to surviving on coffee and maple donuts and her stomach was bouncing all over the place from all the food she’d sampled.

 

Chloe opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, the double doors burst open, startling her. She glanced over right as Clark stormed in; moving passed her without even a hello. He saw Lois on the couch and paused in his steps as he caught sight of her hand rubbing her stomach. He sucked in a sharp breath.

 

Oh god...it was true, she was pregnant. He was going to be a Father and they weren’t even married yet. They weren’t going to get the chance to settle in and have time for just them. It wasn’t that he didn’t want kids...he did… _eventually_ , after they’d been settled for a while. Oh god...the General was going to kill him.

 

Chloe watched Clark gulp, frowning as she looked back toward the door, catching sight of Oliver. She looked between them and arched an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

 

Oliver barely noticed Lois was in the room as he hurried over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body tightly against his. “It’s going to be okay, Chloe.” He pulled back slightly, so he could look into her eyes. “I love you and we’re going to get through this together. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me right away.” He hugged her even tighter, crushing her against his chest.

 

Lois looked back and forth between her fiancé and Oliver, wondering what the hell she had missed. “Clark, why are you looking at m like that? And why is Ollie trying to crush Chloe? What did is going on?” she asked.

 

Clark came to the couch, bent down in front of it and took the hand that was on her stomach. “It’s okay Lois...I know, you don’t have to pretend. It’s going to be okay. If you want, we can even push up the wedding.” He met her eyes, expression honest and warm, “I love you so much, everything is going to be fine, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

 

He leaned forward and cupped her cheek, while sending her a small smile. “We’ll figure everything out, one day at a time.”

 

“Push up the wedding?” Lois cried. She barely noticed the expression on Clark’s face as she focused on his words. “Why the hell would we push up the wedding? Do you have any idea how difficult planning this thing has been?” She shook her head and turned to look at her cousin, but she was still squished against Oliver’s chest, his head resting against hers.

 

Her eyes drifted back to Clark and she was confused when she saw the way he was staring at her. It was a combination of adoration and pure panic. Lois placed her free hand on his shoulder. “Honey, why are you looking at me like that? Did you guys drink more spiked champagne or something?” she asked.

 

Clark frowned, “Spiked champagne?” he shivered slightly, “God, no...I just want you to know I’m here...that’s all.” He smiled again. Meanwhile, Chloe was attempting to pry her husband off of her. She grunted as she pushed against his stomach. “Oliver move, you’re suffocating me...jeez and you’re just making my stomachache worse.”

 

She finally managed to detangle herself and when she glanced up at him, eyebrow raised, she caught an off look on his face. “What is wrong with you? Did something happen? Is everyone okay?”

 

“Your stomach hurts? Is something wrong with the baby?” Before Chloe had a chance to respond, Oliver lifted her in his arms and started for the door. “One of you call Emil and tell him I’m taking Chloe to the hospital and I want a specialist brought in. Have him send Bart to get whoever he thinks is the best,” he called over his shoulder.

 

Chloe gripped his arms tightly, eyes flying wide. Did he just say _baby_. What baby? “Oliver, _stop_!” Clark stood up at the commotion, frowning when he saw Chloe in Oliver’s arms. He arched an eyebrow as he spoke, “Guys, can you keep it down? I’m trying to talk to Lois about how we’re going to handle the baby.” He continued to frown while crossing his arms over his chest.

 

Chloe managed to catch sight of her cousin over Oliver’s shoulder and gave her a look, pleading for her to help her get Oliver and Clark to shut up long enough for them to make sense out of what was going on.

 

“Okay, both of you need to stop shouting about babies. What babies are you talking about?” Lois pushed Clark away from her and got to her feet. “Unless you saw something with that x-ray vision of yours and forgot to tell me, there is no baby here.” She gestured to her stomach before turning to Oliver and her equally confused cousin.

 

“Ollie, put Chloe down. The only thing in her stomach is eight different variations of chicken and beef and if you keep jolting her like that, we’re all going to see it again when it comes back up and then I’m going to have to find a new caterer and whatever crazy has taken over your mind right now is going to seem like a walk in the park when I’m through with you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a cool look, daring him to challenge her.

 

Clark clamped his mouth shut and frowned, taking a step back from Lois and squinting while looking at her stomach using his x-ray vision to confirm what she was saying. And sure enough, there was nothing there. He looked up at her and let out a long breath, relief evident in his voice, “You’re not pregnant.”

 

Before Lois could say anything, Chloe grunted and rolled her eyes at her best friend. She turned her gaze to her husband, rubbing his arm lightly. “Ollie, can you please put me down? I really am starting to get nauseous...”

 

“Sorry, Sidekick,” Oliver replied with a sheepish smile. He set her on her feet and lightly rubbed his hand over her back. “Can I get you something?” he offered.

 

“How about an explanation?” Lois broke in. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared back and forth between the two men. “Would you like to tell us why you both decided we were each pregnant and were somehow keeping it a secret from the two of you?” Her eyes landed on Clark. “Well?”

 

He cleared his throat, shuffling his feet as he scratched the back of his head, sending Oliver a quick look. “Well, uh...I sort of got this text message from Tess...about pregnancy scares...I thought she meant us...I mean she sent it to me...and then I thought maybe she meant to send it to Oliver...but then when I came in I saw you rubbing you stomach and...”

 

Lois rolled eyes. “Tess sent a message about a pregnancy scare so you just assumed she was talking about me? Tess and I might not be adversaries anymore, but do you really think I would tell her I was pregnant before I told you?” She wasn’t sure if she should be angry or hurt that her fiancé thought she would keep something that huge from him.

 

His voice trailed off as he gave her a sheepish look, “I’m sorry...I messed up...” He glanced toward Chloe and Oliver and gave them half a smile. She looked at her husband, eyebrow raised, “And what’s your excuse? Is this your way of telling me I’ve gained weight?” She glanced down, placing her hands on her stomach as her brows furrowed.

 

“Chloe, come on,” Oliver replied. He rolled his eyes at the ridiculous notion. “Do not put words in my mouth. This is all Clark’s fault. I was trying to wrap my mind around Lois having to give birth to an alien and then Clark started saying it was probably you who was pregnant.” He lifted a shoulder in a shrug as his hand continued to rub her back. “He got inside my head and then when you said your stomach hurt, I was worried.”

 

She tilted her head, glanced up at him and scrunched her nose before letting out a short breath. “Sure, blame it on Clark...” She poked him in the chest. “But I swear, the two of you are nuts. I can’t believe you guys thought we were _pregnant._..” She winced, “Let’s not have this conversation again for several years. And seriously Oliver, the phones need to be _fixed_.”

 

She gave him a stern look before turning toward her cousin, the humor of the situation finally hitting her as she grinned slightly. “You know Lo, I don’t think either one of them deserve what we bought at the store earlier.”

 

Lois grinned at her cousin. “I think you’re right, Chlo. Those bags will be staying in the closet.” She sat back down on the couch and raised an eyebrow at Clark. “Did it ever occur to either of you geniuses that maybe Tess is the one who had a pregnancy scare considering she sent the text?”

 

“Tess,” Oliver muttered, his eyes widening slightly. He’d been so caught up in Clark’s theories that he hadn’t bothered to consider the source. “Is she pregnant?” he asked, turning back to his wife. “And what’s in the bag?” He peered over her shoulder at the bags lined up on the desk.

 

Chloe leaned over, pushing the bags aside. “Nope, you don’t get to see those and for you males, who are obviously inept, having a pregnancy scare doesn’t mean you’re pregnant. It means you thought you might have been, but it turned out you weren’t.” Her gaze fell on Lois as she motioned forward and spoke. “We’ve all had them, I’m sure.”

 

“But who was she texting?” Oliver asked. The rest of Chloe’s words registered in his head and his eyes widened again. “Are you saying you’ve had a pregnancy scare and didn’t tell me?” His mouth dropped into his famous pout. “We’re supposed to be a team, Chloe and that’s the kind of thing I need to be a part of. When did you think you were pregnant?” he demanded.

 

“Oh my God, Oliver, let it go,” Lois snapped. She didn’t know about Chloe, but she’d enough of this particular conversation. Having a baby was not exactly at the top of her current to do list and she was having a hard enough time getting her stomach settle down without having to explain girl moments to her future husband and her cousin-in-law. “Do you really want to hear about it every time Chloe’s period is a day or so late?” Her gaze shifted to Clark. “What about you, Smallville? Should I tell you every time my cycle shifts a little?” she asked.

 

He made a face, “Please don’t. I think it’s best if we just forget this conversation ever happened. We made a mistake...discussion over.” He glanced between his fiancée and two friends. “So...how the wedding shopping go today?”

 

Oliver wanted to know more about these so-called scares Chloe was referencing, but he figured it wasn’t the time or place to have the discussion and he’d already hit a nerve with his wife. He started to ask how they liked the caterer he had recommended when the double doors opened again and Tess walked into the room.

 

“Afternoon, everyone,” Tess greeted them coolly. She wasn’t really in the mood for people and she had assumed Watchtower would be empty since they were all supposed to be out doing wedding stuff. She dropped her purse on the chair, frowning when she saw four pairs of eyes staring at her like they’d never seen her before. “Did I miss something?” she asked.

 

Clark took a hesitant step forward, studying Tess cautiously as he pushed his glasses up on his face, a new nervous habit of his. “Uh...well this morning while I was with Oliver...I um, got a text message from you.” He flushed slightly. “I might have gotten the wrong idea from it...so maybe you can clarify which one of us you meant to send it to?”

 

It took Tess a moment to register what was saying and when she did, her mouth dropped open. “You got my text?” She had spent hours wondering why Emil hadn’t responded and if it had been a bad idea to make light of the situation. After that she had decided it had been a bad idea to get into any kind of complicated romantic entanglement in the first place and swore to never let herself be vulnerable again. But if the text had gone to Clark...

 

Frowning, she considered the question he was asking. “That wasn’t supposed to go to any of you. It’s not exactly any of your business,” she said testily.

 

Clark opened and closed his mouth. He was officially shocked. _Tess_ was the one who had a pregnancy scare? Who was she seeing...was it a team member? How did he not know...Did Lois know? A million and one questions flew through his head as he stood there silently. Chloe cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

 

She could see the awkward situation for what it was and she knew Tess wasn’t exactly an open book. Hell if the situation had been reversed, she’d be embarrassed. “Don’t you boys have some wedding details to see about? I thought Lois made a list…?”

 

“She did,” Oliver confirmed. He sent Tess a sideways glance and the look on her face told him that it was not wise to ask any questions. “Actually, I’m going to make some phone calls to set up a few appointments. Clark, do you still want to grab lunch?”

 

His gaze shifted to Oliver, “Uh...I guess so...but what about...” his voice trailed off and he pointed toward Tess. Chloe closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before slapping Clark’s hand so he was no longer pointing at Tess. She was getting slightly annoyed and there was a hint of irritation in her voice when she spoke. “Seriously, I could have sworn Lois said this was supposed to be a male bonding day...why are you guys _still_ here?”

 

She hadn’t meant to snap, but she was still feeling slightly sick from the copious amounts of food she’d had and it was possible she wanted to know what was going on with Tess. She was almost a hundred percent positive the other women wouldn’t say anything with the guys still there.

 

Oliver raised an eyebrow at his wife’s tone. Wrapping his arm lightly around her waist, he pulled her away from everyone else and pressed a kiss to her lips. “We’re going,” he said as he brushed his hand over her cheek. “Let me know if you want me to pick something up for your stomach.” Leaning down, he kissed her softly again and lowered his voice as his lips brushed against her ear. “Tell me what you find out. Husband trumps friend,” he reminded her.

 

The tension in her body lessened as she blew out a long breath, gripping his waist lightly. She should have known that he’d want to know. Chloe tilted her head back and caught his eyes, “Mm, we’ll see...and it’s fine, I just ate too much, I’ll be fine.” She lifted her head up and pressed another light kiss against his lips. “Have fun at lunch with Clark...” She brushed a thumb against his cheek, voice low. “I love you.”

 

Oliver smiled. “I love you too.” He brushed his nose against hers. “And I know where that bag came from.” Winking at her, he straightened to his full height and turned to Clark with a grin on his face. “Ready, Boy Scout?” He sent a wave in Lois’s direction and nodded at Tess as he headed for door.

 

Clark was still slightly confused, but he nodded at Oliver’s back before turning toward Lois and giving her a small smile. He took a few steps toward her, cupping her cheek and pressing a kiss against her lips. “Call me when you’re ready to head home.” He moved past Chloe and Tess, giving them an awkward smile before catching up with Oliver.

 

“See you later, Smallville,” Lois replied. A small smile played on her lips as she watched him rush after Oliver. He might not know the right thing to say in awkward social situations, or any social situations, but she couldn’t help falling a little more in love with him when he did stupid stuff like that. She wasn’t sure when she had become such a sap.

 

Shaking her head at herself, Lois turned to the redhead, who was doing her best not to make eye contact with either one of them. “All right, Tess. The boys are gone and even though we both know Chlo will repeat every word of this to Ollie, you still need to tell us what’s going on. Are you knocked up or what?” she asked bluntly.

 

Chloe groaned, “Really, Lois? That’s how you choose to handle this situation?” She rolled her eyes before making her way over to Tess and giving the redhead a knowing grin as she leaned against the desk next to her. “You might as well just tell us...she’ll never leave you alone until you do, plus you know _I’ll_ find out either way because well...” She pointed to her herself and let her sentence hang in the air.

 

Tess pursed her lips, not sure what to say. She wasn’t exactly a girl talk kind of person and the truth was she’d never allowed herself to have a real friend since Megan had died in her arms on the island. But she knew Chloe was right and Lois wasn’t going to let it go. “Fine,” she agreed. “That text was supposed to go to Emil. I was a few days late and he ran a test for me this morning. It was negative, but it made for an interesting start to the day,” she said.

 

“Emil, huh?” Lois asked. “It’s been awhile since your magical romp at the Planet so I’m guessing you’ve had some sober sex since then. Good for you,” she said. Emil seemed like a decent guy and now that she knew Tess wasn’t actually the devil, she thought it was nice that they had found each other. Again, Lois wondered where all these sappy feelings were coming from. Damn wedding planning, she thought. She made a mental note to get tickets to a monster truck rally.

 

Chloe grinned, “I agree, Emil’s a great guy...plus I might have had my suspicions.” She paused as she caught Tess’s gaze. “I’ll have you know, you missed quite a show. Clark and Oliver burst into Watchtower and proceeded to profess their undying love and reassure Lois and me that even though our pregnancies weren’t planned...everything would be okay.”

 

She chuckled lightly as she gestured with her hands while speaking. “You can imagine our surprise and the two of them completely freaking out, when in fact, neither of us is pregnant. You can probably play it back on the security footage...it will probably make you laugh...”

 

Lois snorted as she recalled the scene the two men had made. “Ollie picking you up as pretty funny,” she said.

 

Tess arched an eyebrow at their obvious amusement. Maybe mocking Oliver and Clark would help her mood too. “I might do that later. Did they really think you were both pregnant?” She shook her head at the faulty logic. “Men,” she muttered.

 

Chloe nodded. “They were pretty ridiculous and my god Lo, how creepy was it hearing the word ‘baby’ come out of their mouths?” Chloe placed a hand over her heart, “He nearly gave me a heart attack. I mean I don’t _dislike_ children...but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m rushing out to go get myself any,” she said.

 

“Who are you talking to?” Lois asked. “I’m still coming to grips with the fact that I have a permanent address. Not to mention this.” She waved her left hand, showing off her engagement ring. “There’s a good chance I’m going to be breathing into a paper bag on my wedding day. I don’t even want to _think_ the b-word. No offense, Tess.”

 

“None taken,” Tess assured her. “It’s definitely not something I’m looking for anytime soon, if ever. Besides, we all know Chloe will be the first to get pregnant.”

 

A loud noise made its way out of Chloe’s mouth as she glared at both women, a hint of panic in her eyes. “Why, why would you even jinx me like that? Now how am I supposed to have sex with my husband when I go home? Every time he touches me today I’m going to look at him and see a big floating sperm...thanks guys...”

 

She let out a dramatic sigh as she groaned, crossing her arms over her chest, brows furrowed. “I was really looking forward to using those things we bought today...”

 

“Oh, come on, Chlo,” Lois teased. She exchanged an amused smile with Tess. “You couldn't resist Ollie if your life depended on it. Just keep popping that pill every morning and you’ll be fine.”

 

She glared at her cousin, lips pursed, hands on her hips. “Keep it up, Lane and you’ll be putting this wedding together without your matron of honor,” she said tone clipped.

 

Lois’s smile faded instantly. “Do not joke about that, Chloe.”

 

Tess picked up her purse, pulling out her cell phone. “If you two will excuse me, I think I will actually call Emil to make sure we don’t get our wires crossed again. Sorry about the confusion and thanks,” she added quickly. She hurried for the door before either woman had a chance to respond. Tess figured it was better to take this newfound friendship idea slowly and she’d already exposed more emotion in one afternoon than she cared to.

 

Chloe watched her go, a small smile appearing on her lips. She knew they’d all had their share of issues and sure things weren’t perfect, but she liked to think that they were all slowly easing into a solid friendship with each other. She turned back to Lois, the smile dropping as she pointed at her cousin. “I won’t joke about quitting if you stop joking about the inevitability of a parasite living in my uterus...”

 

“A parasite?” Lois repeated. “I think someone has been spending too much time with Ollie and his flair for the dramatic is rubbing off on you.” She rose from the couch and pinned her cousin with a knowing look. “I know when you’re lying, Chlo,” she reminded her. “Do you really want to stand there and tell me the idea of having a baby with Ollie disgusts you?”

 

Chloe rolled her eyes, “Of course it doesn’t disgust me. I love Oliver. But at this point in my life children just aren’t in my plan. That’s not to say they never will be, but right now Ollie and I need our quality time...we need to you know be a married couple and  explore marriage before he gets to the knocking me up part.” She arched an eyebrow, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Are you telling me that once you’re Mrs. Clark Kent that you guys are planning on trying for a mini-Clark right away? Hmm, or better yet a mini-Lois?”

 

Lois opened her mouth to tell Chloe that she was crazy, but a tiny fluttering in her stomach stopped her. Maybe the idea of having kids with Clark wasn’t the scariest thing in the world. Or maybe it was, when she thought about all the trouble she had gotten into as a kid. “Someday,” she admitted with a small smile. “But for now, no one is getting pregnant because we’ve already been fitted for our dresses and that seamstress is a bitch...”

 

Chloe chuckled, sending her cousin a warm smile, “Yeah, I’m going to have to agree with you...what do you say we get out of here, maybe take care of a couple more things on that list of yours?”

 

“Good idea,” Lois agreed. She went back to the couch and scooped up her bags while she stepped into her heels. “We should go back to the florist and look at the arrangements again. I think I changed my mind about the centerpieces. Then, we can go to that shop on Maple and look at invitations. Oh, and maybe after that we should see if we can set up an appointment with that DJ that Victor recommended. Speaking of Victor, he really needs to fix those cell phones.”

 

Chloe sighed as she grabbed her bags and followed her babbling cousin out the door. It was going to be a very long afternoon.

 

 


	8. Wicked Game

Oliver was bored.

 

He had decided to work from the penthouse in an attempt to avoid getting pulled into meetings all day, so he wouldn’t have to listen to people drone on and on about useless grievances that he could care less about. His assistant knew to forward important calls to his cell phone and anyone else could easily reach him by email. He’d spent most of the morning behind his desk catching up on paperwork and returning calls to some of his overseas investors.

 

But after awhile, the phone had stopped ringing and the emails had gone from urgent to run-of-the-mill stuff that could wait until he was back at the office. Oliver had placed a conference call to his VP in Star City to see how things were going there since he hadn’t been back for several months. Once again, he was told everything was going smoothly and there was nothing pressing for him to take care of.

 

He had changed into his black yoga pants and run through an extra long workout. With a towel draped over his neck, Oliver paused by his desk to check his messages before heading up to the shower. He didn’t see anything worthwhile, so he closed his laptop and picked up his cell phone. Chloe was at Watchtower making sure the new database was running smoothly and he figured she was probably as bored as he was considering the continued lack of criminal activity in the city. Maybe he could convince her to come home early and they could spend the afternoon entertaining each other.

 

Grinning, Oliver typed out a quick message. “ _Just finished an intense workout and I wanted to see if you’d like to join me for another one.”_  He hit send and waited for her reply.

 

______

 

Chloe sat at the table outside the Italian restaurant, grinning as she listened to Lois explaining yet another one of her outrageous plans for the wedding. It was a little after twelve and she had met up with Lois and Zatanna for lunch about twenty minutes ago. They had just ordered food and were currently waiting on their appetizers when her phone buzzed in her purse.

 

She heard Lois stop talking and she waved her on, “Keep going, I’m listening.” She dug around in her purse until her fingers closed over the phone. Chloe pulled it out, ran her finger across the screen and saw a new message from Oliver waiting in her inbox. The corner of her lip twitched and she opened the text, reading through it.

 

She had to bite her lip to keep herself from groaning out loud; not wanting to alert her cousin or Zatanna to the fact that she was picturing her husband in all his naked glory. She pushed one of the buttons and typed out a reply. _“Mmm, sounds like something I’d definitely be interested in, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to get home for at least an hour, Romeo...on another note exactly how intense was this workout?”_ She pressed send, holding her phone in her lap as she returned her attention back onto her cousin while waiting for his response.

 

______

 

Oliver smirked when his phone vibrated a few minutes later. He read the message, slightly disappointed that Chloe couldn’t come right home. Then again, he’d always prided himself on his ability to be persuasive and she was clearly interested. _“Incredibly intense...my chest is glistening with sweat. I was going to hop in the shower, but maybe it would be better if you licked it off.”_

He hit send again.

 

______

 

Chloe was lifting the glass of water to her mouth when she felt her phone vibrate. She sent a sideways glance at Zatanna and Lois, watching as her cousin opened up one of the sample books to show the dark haired sorceress.  She swallowed the ice water, put the glass down and checked her phone.

 

She sucked in a sharp breath at the words on the small screen, shifting in her seat slightly as she typed out her reply. _“Hmm, Maybe...or maybe I should put my mouth to better use somewhere else.”_

 

She hit send and cleared her throat as she reached for her water once again, hoping it would help her cool down as she tuned back into the conversation.

 

 

______

 

Oliver was in the process of returning an email when his phone vibrated again. He leaned against his desk and slid his finger over the screen to bring up the message. His mouth was suddenly very dry as he stared at the phone, her text bringing up all sorts of mental images. He was getting hard just thinking about the feel of Chloe’s hot mouth wrapped around him.

 

He blindly reached out for his water bottle, took a long drink and wasn’t surprised when the icy liquid did absolutely nothing to cool him down. Sucking in a deep breath, Oliver typed out another message. _“Someone’s not playing fair, Sidekick. Now that I think about it, I’m sure there are better uses for my mouth too. Come home so I can eat.”_

As soon as he hit send, Oliver made his way to the kitchen to get another bottle of water, doing his best to ignore the discomfort he was feeling below the waist.

______

 

“I think you’re going slightly overboard with that idea Lo.” Chloe chuckled as she reached for a breadstick and brought it to her lips. She was in the process of taking a bite when her cell phone went off in her lap again. She put the bread down and wiped her mouth with her napkin. She glanced down, slid her finger over the screen and brought up the message.

 

Chloe swallowed hard. She could feel her body respond to the words on the screen, images of the numerous times he’d had her spread out on his desk, head between her thighs as he made her scream his name, made her panties moist. She crossed her legs, her fingers moving deftly across the small keyboard.

 

 _“And what a talented mouth it is...I was picturing that tongue of yours doing all kinds of wonderful things to me while I was in the shower this morning...too bad you decided to sleep in, I bet you  would have enjoyed the show.”_ She hit send and reached for her water, attempting to calm her pounding heart.

 

______

 

Oliver had already finished the new bottle of water when his phone vibrated a few minutes later. He didn’t bother with pretense, eagerly sliding his finger over the screen. He let out a loud groan when he saw how Chloe had responded. His wife was a wicked, wicked woman and he loved her for it. His mind’s eye called up an image of Chloe in the shower, her skin dripping wet as he lifted her against the wall and pounded into her relentlessly.

 

He was getting harder by the second and if he knew Chloe, she was probably sitting in her chair rubbing her thighs together to try and ease the growing ache between her legs. Oliver licked his lips as he pictured himself nestled against her, his tongue lapping up her moisture while her fingers tugged on the ends of his hair and she begged him to take her over the edge.

 

Swallowing hard as his heart beat even faster against his chest, Oliver quickly typed out another message and hit send, hoping this would be enough to get her to stop whatever she was doing and come home so they could both get the release they needed.

 

______

 

Zatanna sat near Lois, looking through the detailed book of the other woman’s wedding plans. She had made her way into town yesterday to pick up something from Tess and decided to stay for a day or so and catch up with what everyone’s been up to. She turned the page, catching sight of the fabric for the matron of honor dress.

 

Her eyes darted away from the book toward Chloe and she opened her mouth to ask her about it, when her brows drew together at the expression on the blonde’s face as she lifted her phone again and frowned. Zatanna arched an eyebrow in the other woman’s direction. “Waiting for an important phone call?” she asked, amusement in her voice. Chloe’s head popped up, a deer caught in headlights look on her face. “Me? No. I mean I was just waiting for an important text, but it’s not a big deal.”

 

Her hand flew to her neck as she tilted her head, smiling lightly as she tried to hide her arousal from her friend. “So, what do you think of the wedding plans so far? Lois is being a complete Nazi about them, but it’s excused, obviously...”

 

"Hey, I resent that," Lois snapped, too focused on the Nazi part of the statement to hear the "excused" at the end. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her cousin. "Do you think I want to be obsessed with this wedding every minute of the day? Of course I don't," she answered before Chloe even had a chance to open her mouth. "But weddings don't plan themselves, cuz and we can't all run off and get married in our finest 80's wear."

 

Chloe rolled her eyes as she met her cousin’s gaze, "Chill out Lo, I was only joking and hey, don't knock my wedding with Ollie, we're both very happy with what we've seen of it," she said lightly.

 

Zatanna laughed at their exchange and then nodded, answering the blonde's previous question as she turned back toward the book, “It’s very detailed, that’s for sure.” She was in the process of turning the page when her cell phone vibrated in her jacket pocket. She reached inside her pocket, pulling it out and running her finger over it.

 

She arched an eyebrow when she saw that she had one new message from Oliver waiting. She scrolled through, opening the message and her eyebrows rose high when she saw it.

 

_“How wet are you?”_

Zatanna slowly turned her head toward Chloe, studying the woman sitting across from her. The blonde’s body was tense as she sat shifting in her seat and glancing at her phone every few seconds. A sly smirk slid onto Zatanna’s face as she looked back at her phone, typed out a message and hit send before clearing her throat.

 

Lois forgot that she was supposed to be pouting as her interest was piqued by the look on Zatanna's face. She glanced from the phone in the magician's hand to the one Chloe was clutching like a life preserver and wondered if there had been another incident.

 

Chloe automatically looked up, her eyebrow raised in question. “So...this text message you were waiting for, any chance it was from your husband?” Lois snorted at that. No wonder Chloe looked so flushed. It wasn't that warm outside.

 

The blonde straightened in her seat and pursed her lips. “Uh...maybe?” She wasn’t sure what her friend was getting at, but she suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The look on Zatanna’s face was highly amused as she spoke.

 

“Well, considering I’m pretty sure I just got a text message that was meant for you, I’m going to assume he was the important person you were referring to,” She paused, her grin widening, “And for the record...good for you.” She winked and Chloe groaned as she held out her hand, “Show me what he said...”

 

She handed the phone to Chloe and the minute her eyes glossed over the message, her face flushed scarlet. "Oh my god..." Zatanna chuckled and she threw her friend a smug look. "I don't think god has anything to do with that, Sweetheart...someone's been naughty. And to think I thought your phone was vibrating so much because of work related issues, but apparently our favorite married couple was just getting their sext on."

 

"Typical," Lois muttered, reaching for her water. "Those two take being newlyweds to a new level. It's like they can't go five seconds without groping each other." She smirked at her cousin. "But seriously, cuz, with all the text malfunctions we've had lately, don't you think you and Ollie should try to keep your pants on until you're in the same room?" she teased.

  
Chloe was yet again mortified, not so much for being caught texting dirty things to her husband, but because they were out at a restaurant talking about the wedding and all she could think of was how badly she wanted to go home and let Oliver do all kinds of dirty things to her. She looked back at the phone and frowned, "Did you reply to him?" she asked while lifting her head in Zatanna's direction.

 

Lois raised an eyebrow. She was all too familiar with how flirtatious Zatanna could be and how she crossed the line every now and again. "Did you?" she asked, torn between being suspicious and slightly amused.

  
She leaned back in her seat, mischief dancing in her eyes as she lifted her glass and took a sip of her drink before putting it back down, "Oh, I most certainly did," she said, voice filled with humor.

 

______

 

Oliver shifted uncomfortably as he waited for Chloe to return his text. It was taking longer than usual and he really hoped it was because she was on her way home from Watchtower and not because someone had shown up and sprung a new problem on her. Restlessly, he dragged a hand through his hair and decided if she didn't get back to him soon, he was going to have to start without her.

 

He gritted his teeth, thinking about business reports. He ran over the last quarter's numbers and did some quick calculations in his head, doing everything in his power to ignore the desperate ache in his lower body. Oliver's mind shifted to the last JL meeting and the new computer system Chloe and Victor had been talking about. He let out a shaky breath, deciding that was boring enough to focus on until he thought about the skirt Chloe had been wearing that day and how he'd slipped his hand under it before they'd even gotten out of the elevator at the clock tower...

 

He let out a relieved sigh when his phone vibrated in his hand, only to groan when he saw Zatanna's name flashing on the screen instead of Chloe's. Tess had mentioned she was in town for something, but Oliver wasn't sure why she was contacting him. Even though he would forever be grateful to her and whatever she put in their champagne, he was still slightly wary of the magician considering she'd chained him to a post for hours on end.

 

Dragging his finger across the screen, Oliver forced himself not to think about what Chloe had insinuated in her earlier text about what she could do with her mouth. He shook his head, desperate to clear his thoughts and finally looked at the text Zatanna had sent him.

 

_"Ever heard of a U-boat?"_

 

Oliver blinked several times, convinced he was seeing things due to his aroused state. But those were the words on the screen. Why the hell would Zatanna send him that text? Was she out of her mind? They might not spend a lot of time together, but she had to know that he was happily married to Chloe and...

 

He paused, realization dawning on him. The reason it was taking Chloe so long to respond to the text was because Zatanna had gotten it instead. Oliver silently cursed Victor for not fixing the stupid phones. Obviously Zatanna knew that the text had been a mistake and she was just messing with his head. He started to type out a reply when another thought hit him.

 

What if she didn't know it was a mistake? Zatanna hadn't been around for any of the other text message incidents and she didn't check in regularly enough with the rest of the team for someone to have clued her in. What if she thought he had been hitting on her and this was her way of letting him know that she was up for it? Oliver swallowed hard, dropping his long frame into his desk chair and staring sightlessly at the wall as he tried to look at the situation rationally. Zatanna was a flirt by nature and she enjoyed causing trouble. But there was a big difference between putting a spell on champagne to loosen everyone up and letting a married man know that she was interested in him.

 

"Stop it," Oliver chastised himself. He was reading too much into the whole thing. It was a joke. He was clearly spending too much time with Clark and his weird paranoia that everyone and everything revolved around him was rubbing off. Zatanna was not interested in him and that was that.

 

But the little voice in the back of his head continued to nag him. If there was even a small chance that she was hitting on him, Oliver knew he needed to clear the air and make sure Zatanna understood that was never going to happen. He just wasn't sure how exactly he was supposed to go about that. If he called her and asked her if she was interested, he'd either come off like an arrogant jackass or he might unwittingly come off like he's trying to feel her out to see if she might be game.

 

He glanced at the phone again. He could just act like he'd never gotten the text. Of course that presented a whole new set of problems should she decide to bring it up at a later date. Or worse, what if she said something to Chloe? He needed to say something to Chloe. What was he supposed to tell her? Hey Sidekick, Zatanna sent me a text letting me know she was wet for me, want to take a shower now?

 

Oliver didn't see that going over well.

 

Frustrated, he flipped through his contacts list, hesitating for a second as he wondered how it had come to this and pressed send. Bringing the phone to his ear, he tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk as he waited.

 

Clark was just putting his glasses on and coming off the roof, when his cell phone rang in his pocket. He dug around for it while wiping the building debris off his shirt. He pressed the button and pulled the phone to his ear as he went back into mild-mannered reporter mode while making his way back towards the bull pen. “Hello?”

 

"Clark, it's me," Oliver said, his voice coming out more rushed than usual. "I need your help." He dragged his free hand through his tousled hair again, still surprised that he had called Clark of all people.

 

Clark frowned, face turning serious, thinking that something big must be happening if Oliver was calling him for help. He paused at the top of the steps, moving off to the side and glancing around quickly to make sure no one was paying attention to him before answering. "Yeah, of course...what's going on? Should I suit up?"

 

"No, it's not that kind of problem," Oliver replied. He leaned back in his chair, catching his bottom lip between his teeth. He sighed and forced himself to quit stalling. "There was another incident of a text going to the wrong person and I may have given Zatanna the wrong idea."

 

Clark opened his mouth, but paused. Oliver seemed almost nervous, which didn't happen too often. He shook his head and sighed. "Let me guess, this message you sent was supposed to go to Chloe and it had something to do with," he glanced around before bending his head down, "sex," he whispered.

 

Oliver closed his eyes, sighing inwardly. He didn't understand how a grown man, who was engaged to Lois Lane of all people, could be so easily embarrassed by a word. "Yes, Clark, I sent a sexually charged text to my wife and it went to Zatanna instead. Get the lecture out of your system, I'll wait."

 

Clark pursed his lips as someone pushed by him and he leaned back, giving them a tight smile and making sure they were out of hearing range before he spoke, keeping Lois's words in his mind. "I'm not going to lecture you...Chloe is your wife the two of you can do whatever it is you do...I just don't understand why you'd be doing that when you know the phones are all messed up," he said, a hint of reprimand in his voice. "Did you not learn anything from the last meeting with Mia's text?" He pushed up his glasses and moved forward again, starting down the stairs toward his desk. "How bad was the text?"

 

Rolling his eyes at the ceiling, Oliver decided as far as Clark Kent lectures went, that one wasn't too bad. "Yeah, maybe it wasn't my finest decision, but stuff happens. As for the text..." He paused. There was no way in hell he was going to tell Clark what it said. "My message wasn't that bad." He allowed himself a small smirk, thinking of the messages they had traded before that one. "But Zatanna replied to it." The smirk disappeared from his face as the uncertainty he'd been juggling returned to the forefront of his mind.

 

Clark plopped down in his chair, confusion on his face as he moved forward, elbows leaning on the desk. "She did? In a... _provocative_ way?" He cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "I mean, did she think you were coming on to her? I thought she knew you and Chloe were married..." he said, uncertainty in his voice.

 

"Yes, it was in a provocative way," Oliver confirmed. He drummed his hand against the desk impatiently. "She knows we're married. But you know how she gets. This is probably her idea of a joke. Right?" he asked hopefully.

 

Clark leaned back in his seat, a thoughtful look on his face. He definitely knew how Zatanna was. An image of her on top of his lap at the convention over a year ago, putting the moves on him when she knew he was with Lois popped into his head. It wouldn't be unheard of for her to do something like that, but he would think that with Oliver heading up the team and her finally being in everyone's good graces she wouldn't want to jeopardize that. He hesitated before speaking. "I'm not sure...it's hard to gauge Zatanna's motives sometimes," he said cryptically.

 

Raising his eyebrows at Clark's less than subtle implication, Oliver barely resisted the urge to bang his head against the desk repeatedly. "So, you're telling me that I'm not just making too much of this and there's a chance Zatanna now thinks I want to have sex with her? Perfect," he muttered. How the hell was he supposed to fix this mess?

 

Clark took a deep breath, feeling slightly bad at hearing the frustration in the other man's voice. "Look...why don't you just ignore the text and not say anything at all? I've learned the hard way that even if your try to clear up a situation with Zatanna...it sometimes gets out of hand. Just...ride it out, don't mention it and I'm sure everything will be fine..." he said, hoping his voice sounded reassuring, even though he wasn't actually sure about anything.

 

"I thought about that," Oliver admitted. He still wasn't completely against the idea of pretending like it never happened and just hoping that Zatanna never mentioned it. "What about Chloe? Do I tell her? We don't keep secrets from each other, Clark. But if Zatanna didn't mean anything by it, is it worth making a big deal out of?" He rubbed his head, once again cursing Victor and his stupid phones. He was currently on a recon mission with AC, but the second he checked in, Oliver was going to tell him in no uncertain terms that fixing the phones needed to be his top priority.

 

Clark winced as he pushed his body forward again, brows furrowed. "Honestly...I don't know. I mean if she was just joking around, by telling Chloe you might be creating some unnecessary tension between them," he paused, letting the other man take in his words before continuing. "Chloe's been slightly more territorial of you lately, not that she goes around getting jealous, but you know what I mean...and she might feel weird around Zatanna after that."

 

He blew out a long breath, thanking every power in the universe that he wasn't in Oliver's current situation. And this was why dirty texting was a bad idea. "Then again, on the other side of the coin, if you don't tell her and she finds out...well I wouldn't want to be on the other end an angry Chloe...she and Lois have frightening tempers..." he said while shivering lightly in his seat.

 

Oliver let out a long sigh. Clark had pretty much hit on all of his concerns. He also had no doubt his friend was partially blaming him for getting into the situation in the first place. But at least he wasn't coming right out and saying it. Oliver figured that was progress. "Look, I need to jump in the shower." His erection was long gone, but maybe a cold shower would knock some sense into him. "I'm going to tell Chloe. Thanks for listening," he added awkwardly.

 

Clark relaxed the tension in his shoulders and nodded even though Oliver couldn't see him. "Yeah...I mean sure. That's what friends do right?" He scratched the back of his neck and grinned to himself, "Lois would be proud...I'm completely sure this counts as bonding...but seriously. I know we don't talk about stuff like this often."

 

He hesitated, wanting to extend his friendship to the other man, knowing Lois was right and no matter how he felt about certain things, the four of them would technically be family soon enough. "But I'm around, even if I don't know what to say."

 

Oliver had to smile at that. Clark was awkward as hell, but he knew he could count on him. "Thanks, man. Same goes for you. I'm here if you need anything." He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling awkward himself. "I guess I'll talk to you soon."

 

Clark laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll see you soon." He smirked, picturing the expression on Chloe's face when Oliver told her. "And...Good luck."

 

Narrowing his eyes at the hint of a snicker in Clark's voice, Oliver decided to hold his tongue on this one since if the situation were reversed, he'd probably be laughing. "Yeah, thanks." He disconnected the call, tossed the phone on the desk and made his way to the stairs. He still had no idea what he was going to say to Chloe when she got home.

 

______

 

Chloe leaned against the railing in the elevator, hand massaging the back of her neck as she waited for it to reach the penthouse. It had been a long afternoon and after lunch with Lois and Zatanna, she had decided to cut her day short and come home. A grin broke out on her face as she shook her head at the afternoon’s festivities. She still couldn't believe Zatanna had actually responded to Oliver. If she was being honest, even though she knew the their friend was just joking around, the thought of another woman sending Oliver dirty text messages made her want to mark her territory, not caring who saw.

 

She let out a small sigh at the ridiculousness of her thoughts. She was by no means jealous; her relationship with Oliver was rock solid, there wasn't anything that could tear them apart. A smile broke out on her face at the thought as the elevator chimed. The doors slid open and Chloe walked out, glancing around as she tossed her bag on a chair before moving further into the apartment. "Ollie?"

 

Oliver had just finished pulling on a pair of jeans when he heard Chloe calling his name. He started to reach for a t-shirt and then decided against it. Maybe she’d be less angry that he’d inadvertently propositioned their mutual friend if she was distracted by his naked chest. Taking a deep breath, he dragged a hand through his wet hair and made his way down the stairs.

 

“Hey Sidekick,” he called lightly, hoping that his voice didn’t sound as nervous to her as it did in his head. She watched him descend the stairs, her eyes falling to his chest, a hint of moisture still present there. He must have just come out of the shower. She met him at the bottom of the stairs and smiled, her hands automatically finding a place on his chest.

 

“Hey yourself, Hero...showering in the middle of the day without me?” she asked, pout gracing her lips as she tilted her head to the side.

 

Any other time and he would have smirked at how well he knew her when her small hands went right for his chest. But Oliver was more concerned she was going to notice how fast his heart was pounding. His hands went to her hips and he squeezed her gently as he gave her a sheepish smile.

 

“Sorry, I wasn’t sure when you were coming back. Did something come up at Watchtower?” he asked. She shook her head and studied his face as she spoke. He was acting strange and she wondered if it was because of what happened that afternoon.

 

“No, everything’s fine. I just felt like coming home. I missed you... _and_ someone didn’t reply to my last text.” She smirked, her hand traveling up his side.

 

He swallowed hard, catching her hand in his and holding it between their bodies as he tried to find the right words. He’d gone over everything in his head while he’d been in the shower and he still wasn’t sure if Zatanna had been joking or not. Oliver concluded that it didn’t matter. But he still had to tell Chloe.

 

“Actually, I did reply to your text,” Oliver started. He stared into her eyes, guilt rising in his chest even though he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. “But the phones malfunctioned again and I guess Zatanna received it.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “She responded to it. I’m not sure if she was serious or not, but she may have thought I was hitting on her.”

 

Chloe bit her bottom lip, her chest tightening at the look of guilt on his face. It was official; she was the worst wife in the world. Here she was specifically bringing the whole text message issue up to see what he’d say, even though she knew he’d texted her back and it had gotten sent to the wrong phone.

 

It was supposed to be a joke, something silly. Lois and Zatanna had told her to play it up and act like she had no clue what was going on, but she just couldn’t do it. Her face softened as she reached a hand up to his cheek. “Ollie...” she glanced down for a minute letting out a short sigh before looking back up. “It’s okay,” she gave him a sheepish look.

 

“When you texted me about your workout...I was at lunch with Lois... _and_ Zatanna. She’s in town for a few days...” She mumbled as she pulled him closer to her body, lowering her voice, “I know the message went to her, I’m sorry I acted like I didn’t. She was just kidding with her reply.” She gnawed on the inside of her cheek and swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry...no one meant to upset you and it’s hardly your fault that the phones are malfunctioning...Don’t be mad...” She said as her thumb caressed his cheek.

 

“Mad?” Oliver stared at her, confused as he tried to process everything she had just told him. “Wait...you were with Zatanna? You knew she got my text and you let her text me back? Chloe!” He groaned loudly and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what I was going to say to you.” He rolled his eyes and wrapped both his arms around her.

 

She made a face, scrunching her nose as she slid her arms around him. “Uh, that’s a negative. I did not _let_ her text you. She did that before she even showed me that she got your text,” she snorted as she arched an eyebrow at him. “You think I’d _let_ Zatanna, or anyone else for that matter, send you naughty text messages?” She shook her head, tugging him tighter against her body, “Absolutely not. I am the only one who gets to talk dirty to you.”

 

“Good to know,” Oliver teased. He brushed his nose against hers before kissing her softly. “I’d hate to think my wife was willing to share me because I sure as hell am not sharing you with anyone.” He tightened his arms around her as he pressed small kisses over her face. “Try not to give me anymore heart attacks, Chloe.” He pulled back slightly, raising an eyebrow. “I was so desperate, I called Clark for advice. _Clark Ken_ t,” he stressed, wanting her to understand the gravity of the situation.

 

She shifted back slightly, her hand flying to her mouth, laughter bubbling up in her throat. Her body shook as she gripped one of his arms tightly. “Oh my god...you called _Clark_ for advice? I thought we agreed a long time ago that you’d _never_ take advice from him again?”

 

“Yeah, we did but that was before you let random women send me dirty texts without even trying to defend my honor,” Oliver replied. He tried for a stern expression, but he couldn’t keep the corner of his lip from twitching as his eyes filled with amusement. He was relieved that she wasn’t upset and they could put the entire incident behind them without things getting awkward. “Besides, I was just fulfilling my best man duties by giving Clark a chance to lecture me again about ou _r se_ x messages,” he said in a dramatic whisper.

 

Chloe smirked as she moved forward, pressing her body against his as she let her hand slip down his stomach to the waistband of his jeans. She lifted herself on her toes, lips near his ear. “I quite enjoy our sex messages,” she whispered, warm breath hitting his skin. She slid her fingers back and forth over the top of his pants as she cocked her head to the side, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Since it seems like I caused you an awful lot of trouble today Romeo, how about I make it up to you?”

 

He groaned, all his blood suddenly rushing south once again. “I think that can be arranged, Sidekick.” Oliver slipped his hand under her shirt and lightly stroked his fingers over the sensitive skin of her lower back. “Tell me what you had in mind,” he suggested huskily. She moaned low in her throat, pressing a kiss against the underside of his chin before pulling back and grinning. “Tell you?” she asked amused. Chloe shook her head, taking his hand and pulled him toward the stairs, “Telling is for amateurs, Mr. Queen...I’d much rather _show_ you.”

 

A wide grin broke out on Oliver’s face as he let her lead him up the stairs. “Have I mentioned just how much I love you, Mrs. Queen?” he asked. She tapped her lip with her finger, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Hmm, I do believe you have, but please, feel free to say it whenever the urge hits,” she said as she sent a wink his way.

 

“Gladly,” Oliver agreed. He threw his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet as he jogged up the rest of the stairs.

 


	9. Capes and Leather

Clark sat in the living room, eyes on the screen of his phone as he waited for a reply from his fiancée. He lifted his eyes to the clock and sighed. It was a little after seven and Lois was supposed to have been home close to twenty-five minutes ago. His eyes took in the room, lights dim, candles lit, food set out in front of the fire. Even though things had been slow for them lately on the criminal front, he and Lois had both been using the extra time to get better footing at the Planet, so they hadn’t been spending much time alone together.

 

When they were together outside of work, most of the time they were usually with Chloe and Oliver planning out wedding details. Even though Clark was extremely glad they had their help in that area, he missed spending time just him and Lois. So he had checked in with Watchtower, taken the night off and decided a romantic evening at home was exactly what they needed.

 

Earlier, when he’d brought it up to her, saying they should make a dinner date and spend some quality time at the farm relaxing, no patrol or Planet work allowed, she had seemed excited. But in true Lois fashion, she’d gotten caught up in the story that she was currently working on and was running late. A small grin slid on to his lips as he pictured her at her desk, that adorable look of concentration she got on her face when she was working on a new story.

 

The way she got completely lost in it was one of the many things he loved about her. And with all the times he’d run off in the middle of things or had been late to due to hero related business, he couldn’t really get mad at her for it. He shifted on the couch, slightly uncomfortable in his outfit. The phone in his hands vibrated and he grinned.

 

He slid his finger over it and pouted slightly. According to his fiancée, she was on her way home, but it was still going to be a while. He pursed his lips and thought about offering to just pick her up from wherever she was and bring her home, but he knew she’d just say no. After all what exactly would she do with the car? He tilted his head to the side, he could always pick it up later...he shook the thought from his head.

 

Maybe he couldn’t kidnap her and drag her home, but he could certainly offer up some motivation for her to speed up her trip slightly. A grin settled on his lips as he typed out his message and pressed send. If that didn’t get her home faster, he didn’t know what would. Clark shifted and leaned back on the couch, eyes watching the flame flicker, smug smile on his lips.

 

______

 

"All that sounds good to me," Oliver said. He logged out of his computer, closing the laptop before the machine had a chance to power down and reached into his drawer for his car keys. "So we're good?" he asked absently.

 

From her spot in the visitor's chair across from his desk, Tess arched an eyebrow at him. They'd been going over the quarterly reports for Luthor Corp. and she was fairly certain he had mentally checked out about twenty minutes ago. "Am I keeping you from something, Oliver?" she asked warily.

 

He rolled his eyes at the annoyance in her tone. "My wife," Oliver told her bluntly. He stood up, grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and yanked it on. He'd been in meetings since six a.m. and he'd barely had a chance to talk to Chloe aside from a five minute phone conversation when he'd excused himself from his mind-numbing business lunch and snuck outside to call her.

 

Since things were still incredibly slow on the criminal front, Bart was handling the patrol for the evening and Chloe was going to monitor him from the Watchtower. Oliver planned on taking full advantage of the down time.

 

"Come on Tess, I'm sure you have somewhere better to be." He smirked at her as he met her gaze. "Playing Doctor, perhaps?" Oliver laughed at his own joke. "Although does it count as playing if one of you is actually a doctor?" He tapped his chin, considering.

 

"You're an idiot." Tess gathered her paperwork, sent him one last withering look and strode out of his office, slamming the door loudly at her back.

 

"Say hi to Emil!" Oliver shouted. He scooped up his laptop and keys, starting for the door just as his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, his smile slipping when he saw Clark's name flashing on the ID.

 

He was going to kill someone if there was an emergency. Oliver slid his finger across the screen to bring up the message, half expecting it to say that a new crop of aliens had crash landed.

 

_"Also, I may or may not be wearing a cape right now. Hint: I am."_

 

"What the..." Oliver burst out laughing, the sound echoing through his empty office. It looked like Clark had finally come over to the dark side. It also seemed like role playing was on the agenda for the evening. The idea of Clark in a cape only made him laugh harder.

 

Forcing himself to get a grip on the laughter, Oliver hit the button to reply to the message and let Clark know the phone curse had struck again.

 

He stopped himself in the middle of the reply. As much as he wanted to tease his friend about being on the other end for a change, Clark had come through for him when the whole Zatanna thing had gone down. He could have lectured him a lot more than he had and instead he'd been a friend. He knew if he told Clark he got the message instead of Lois, the other man would be mortified and probably spend the rest of the night pouting.

 

"Damn bonding," Oliver muttered. He deleted his reply and stuffed the phone in the pocket of his jacket as he made his way out of his office toward the elevator. He'd let this one go.

 

______

 

Chloe reached forward, hand curling around her glass of water, pulling it to her lips and taking a sip. It was past noon and her good mood was being pushed aside by her grumbling stomach. Lois and Clark were supposed to be meeting her and Oliver for lunch, but of course they were late, as usual. She and Oliver had been sitting in one of the corner booths of the small Chinese restaurant for at least twenty minutes. She let out a small sigh, putting the glass down and releasing the tension in her shoulders. She was being ridiculous. Lois was always late as was Clark. It wasn’t like this was something new. Chloe leaned back against the leather cushion, thoughts drifting back to last night as she grinned lightly.

 

Oliver had stopped by Watchtower on his way home and did all kinds of naughty things to her while she was guiding Bart through his patrol. Knowing they could have been caught at any moment made it that much more exciting, which only served to convince her that Oliver was a horrible influence on her. Her stomach growled loudly, snapping her out of her thoughts as she blinked and glanced at Oliver. “We need more of those crunchy noodle things. I’m pretty sure my stomach is trying to eat itself,” she said, her lips forming a slight pout.

 

Oliver chuckled softly, lifting his hand to get the waiter's attention. When they were in the middle of a mission, Chloe could forget to eat for days at a time, but put her in a restaurant and suddenly she was starving. He asked the waiter for more noodles as well as an order of pot stickers, figuring Lois and Clark might be awhile. Turning back to his wife, he reached out, brushing the hair back from her face, his smile widening as he thought about just how good of a time they'd had the night before. "It shouldn't take too long for them to bring out the appetizer. Think it will _satisfy_ you for awhile?" he asked pointedly as his other hand slipped under the hem of her skirt to rest of her thigh.

 

Chloe arched an eyebrow, eyeing him, pulse quickening slightly at the feel of his warm palm against her thigh. She didn't know how he did it. No matter what he said, whether or not it was in a sexual way, though she had no doubt of the double meaning of his current words, she couldn't seem to stop her body from responding to him. "I'd advise you not to start anything you can't finish Mr. Queen," she whispered softly, while shifting her legs, making his hand slip slightly.

 

Oliver smirked at that, his hand dipping even further under her skirt as his fingertips glided over the soft skin of her inner thigh. "Who says I can't finish it?" He lowered his mouth to her ear. "The real question is can you keep your voice down, Sidekick?" Oliver ran his tongue along the shell of her ear before moving back again, still smirking at her.

 

Chloe sucked in a sharp breath, groaning softly, eyes darkening as she gave her husband a sideways glare when he moved away, hand so close to her panties she could practically feel the heat from it. Two could play that game. There was spark of deviousness in her eyes as she addressed him. "I bet I could be quieter than you think I can, Hero." She leaned her upper body towards him, warm breath hitting his ear, voice soft with a hint of a challenge in it. "What if I said you're on...right here in the middle of the restaurant, I want to see how hard you can make me come...would you do it?"

 

"Absolutely," Oliver replied without missing a beat. His own eyes were dark with lust when they met hers. He let his fingers brush ever so-slightly across the front of her panties.

 

Chloe's eyes were just fluttering shut at the feel of his fingers skirting across her panties, when something knocked into the table making her eyes fly open. Clark gave them a sheepish smile while fixing his tie before sliding into the other side of the booth. "Sorry we're late," his voice lowered as he leaned forward, "there was a fire downtown. Lois should be here any second; I think she ran to the bathroom." He smiled as he glanced between them, catching the odd looks on their faces. "What's up?"

 

I can tell you what's not up, Oliver thought bitterly. He gave his friend a tight smile as he casually slid his hand out from underneath Chloe's skirt. "Not a problem. We found ways to keep ourselves busy," he said. Oliver reached for his ice water and drank half the glass in one sip.

 

Chloe slumped in her seat and glared at her best friend, "Yeah you have perfect timing as usual..." Clark arched an eyebrow at the sarcasm in his friend’s tone. "Did I miss something?" Chloe leaned forward, once again lifting up her water and taking a sip before speaking. "You usually do...but we love you anyway. Was everyone alright?" He nodded, leaning back in the seat and stretching. "Yeah, we got everyone out in time. What about you guys?" he glanced at Oliver with a smile. "What have you been up to?"

 

Oliver smirked into his glass of water, sending his wife a sideways glance. He set it down, prepared to answer Clark, but Lois rushed by the table, practically falling into the seat beside Clark. "Hi guys, sorry about that." She gave her friends a smile and was about to ask how they were when she noticed how flushed Chloe looked and the smug satisfaction on Ollie's face. "Oh my God, did you guys just have sex in the bathroom or something?" she asked.

 

Chloe choked on her water, eyes widening as she scowled at her cousin. “Lois, keep your voice down, there are other people here and no, not that it’s any of your business, but Ollie and I did not have sex in the bathroom…” She paused, tilting her head, considering the thought, “That actually hadn’t crossed my mind…Why didn’t we think of that? I would have been less bored…”

 

"Oh, I thought of it," Oliver said. He winked at her. "But then you issued your little challenge and you know I'm not one to back down." She looked away from him, amused, and shook her head while putting her water down. “ _Anyway_ , were you able to find the dress you were looking for the other day? And please tell me you didn’t pick that awful orange-ish color for my dress…or I might have to forget I’m supposed to attend the wedding…” Her voice trailed off, humor on her face.

 

Lois rolled her eyes, but the waiter appeared at their table before she had a chance to comment. He placed the appetizers in front of them and went around the group taking their orders. As soon as he walked away, Lois gave her cousin a knowing smile. "Yes, I found the dress and decided that it wouldn't work after all. It was too..." She scrunched up her nose, considering. "Molly Ringwald movie-y. Although it did have that slit in the side that I'm sure Oliver would have appreciated. Easy access and all that,” she joked.

 

"Cute," Oliver muttered, rolling his eyes.

 

Chloe smirked and waved a hand in Oliver's direction, "Oh, don't worry I'm fairly confident my husband is well versed at finding easy access in anything I wear." She gave Oliver a sideways glance. "I swear sometimes it even confuses me." She bit her lower lip to keep from laughing and Clark made a face, sighing and keeping his comments to himself, eyes on the appetizers and not the couple in front of him. He cleared his throat, effectively attempting to change the subject. "So then, you still haven’t found the dresses Lois? Remind me again are there bridesmaids too?"

 

Oliver had been about to tell Chloe that he was glad she appreciated his talents, but the look on Lois's face stopped him cold. Her eyes had gone wide, the smile dying on her face as she turned to Clark. Without even realizing what he was doing, Oliver shifted closer to Chloe.

 

"Remind you again if there are bridesmaids?" Lois bit out sharply. She narrowed her eyes at her fiancé, grabbed his tie and tugged on it until his eyes met hers. "Are you telling me that you're actually confused about the number of attendants in our wedding party? Have you been listening at all?" she demanded.

 

Clark's eyes widened and he gulped, fear clear as day on his face. He could lift trains, cars and fight off metahumans, but he was absolutely terrified of his fiancée’s temper. He stuttered slightly when he spoke. "N…No, I mean...of course I know...I was just...I mean…" He paused, swallowing hard as he tried for a small smile. "Have I told you today how much I love you? With all the planning and hard work you're putting into the wedding it's going to be perfect. And I'm sure you'll find a dress for Chloe soon..." He trailed off, trying to see if his words were helping her temper at all.

 

His words only served to make her angrier. Lois loved Clark with all her heart and she understood that he had a higher calling and he couldn't always be by her side when the world needed him. She accepted that. But when they did have downtime together, the least he could do was listen to her when she spoke. She had been working her ass off to make sure their wedding was perfect and so far all she'd asked him to do was bond with Oliver, which was really just an excuse to make sure Ollie made calls to the right people so Clark didn't show up at the altar in his flannel shirt.

 

She felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes and immediately shifted her gaze away from Clark to the plate of pot stickers. She angrily stabbed one with her fork, dragging it onto her plate and proceeding to cut it into tiny pieces as she spoke. "That's fine, Clark. Chloe and I will worry about the dress. I don't have any bridesmaids besides Chloe because I don't trust Lucy to actually be bothered to show up."

 

Oliver shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the tension radiated from the other side of the booth. His hand settled on Chloe's leg again, but this time, there was nothing sexual about it. The two of them joked about how nice it was that they'd skipped the big wedding, but Lois's meltdown was giving him a new appreciation for just how lucky they were.

 

Chloe squeezed his hand lightly, eyes sending a glare in Clark's direction. He was just lucky _she_ didn't have heat vision. Even though Lois turned away from him, Clark had caught sight of the moisture in her eyes and he swore to himself. He really was an ass sometimes. He spoke without thinking yet again and had inadvertently hurt Lois in the process.  
  
He swallowed hard and reached out, taking one of her hands away from her massacred food and urging her to look at him. "Lois, I'm sorry...I _do_ listen to you, I promise, and I knew Chloe was the only one," he said softly before shaking his head. "I was trying to change the subject because I know you don't like me getting on Oliver and Chloe's case about sex and I said the first thing that came to mind."  
  
He reached forward, tilting her chin up as he, expression soft. "But I swear I hear everything you say. I remember you pondering possibly asking Tess, but then thinking it would be unfair to include one team member and not all of them so we decided to keep it small. One person each, family only." He moistened his lips and kept going.  
  
"I remember how you switched where the General was sitting six times before finally settling on one place and all the different names for the colors of your wedding dress even though they all just look white to me. I'm here and I listen even when you don't think I do."  
  
He reached a hand up to her cheek, "I could pick out your voice from millions even if I was on the other side of the globe and you were whispering," he said softly, a small smile appearing on his face as he met her eyes. "I love you and I'm sorry for being an ass...I'm working on the whole ‘think before you speak thing’ though...honest." Clark let his sentence die as he bit the inside of his cheek, waiting for her response, his chest tight, and tension in his shoulders.

 

"Smallville," Lois whispered. Her eyes filled with tears again as her heart turned over in her chest. "How can you say something so incredibly sweet after what I just said?" She grabbed his tie, tugging him forward until his mouth was pressed firmly against hers. Clark grinned against her lips pulling her closer, not caring that they had an audience. She slipped her tongue past his lips, deepening the kiss until air became an issue for her.

 

Pulling back slightly, she smiled at him. "I love you so much, Clark. I know I've been a basket case about the wedding, but that's only because I can't wait for the whole world to know that I'm your wife." Lois rolled her eyes as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She was starting to think there was something in her engagement ring that triggered her dormant emotional female genes. 

 

Chloe watched them with a warm expression, leaning into Oliver slightly as Clark chuckled lightly. He reached out, using the pad of his thumb to wipe away the stray tears that slipped down her cheek. "You're not a basket case, just...very _enthusiastic_ , which I love." He pressed a kiss to the side of her head before leaning back and throwing an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side sending a sideways glance her way. His body relaxed, warmth filling his chest at her words. "I can't wait either...And I think by know you know I'd do _anything_ to make you happy," he said giving her a pointed look.

 

Lois smirked. "Oh believe me, Smallville, I know." She still couldn't believe the surprise he'd had waiting for her the night before. They never did get around to eating the dinner he'd prepared, but her stomach had been the last thing on her mind. She pressed a kiss to his jaw and leaned her head against his shoulder. "What have you guys been up to today?" she asked, her gaze shifting to Chloe.

 

The waiter arrived before she had a chance to answer, placing their meals in front of them. Oliver told him everything looked great and sent him off with a polite smile before reaching for his chopsticks.

 

Clark snorted; his good mood back as he rolled his eyes in his fiancée’s direction while moving his food closer to him. "Come on Lois, do we _really_ want to know what they spent the morning doing?" He tried to keep his tone neutral, but he really didn't want to hear any more about their sexual exploits. He'd been trying very hard to keep his judgments to a minimum lately so he didn't upset anyone, but really there was only so much he could take.

 

Oliver's jaw ticked at that. He'd actually been feeling sorry for Clark because the guy couldn't help putting his foot in his mouth. Oliver swallowed his food, reaching for what was left of his water as he arched an eyebrow in Clark's direction. "For your information, I spent the morning at the office. This is the first time I've seen Chloe since we got up this morning." He set the glass down and addressed the other man again, a hint of warning in his voice. "You shouldn't make assumptions, Clark."

 

Clark lifted some rice on his fork, pulling it to his mouth and chewing as he shrugged. "Well it's not like the assumption would be far off." He pushed a few of his dumplings onto Lois's plate before pointing at the couple across from them with his fork. "You guys have to admit you do spend an abnormal amount of time together...maybe even more than Lois and I do, and _we_ work together," he said before lifting another fork full of rice to his mouth.

 

"Chloe and I work together too," Oliver countered, his jaw clenching even more. "I know you just swoop in for the big moments, Clark, but there's a lot more to running the operation than just that. Not to mention what I do all day at the billion-dollar corporation I own." Blindly, he scooped some food into his chopsticks and shoved it in his mouth before he said something Clark didn't want to hear.

 

Lois raised an eyebrow at the tension coming off Oliver. "Chill out, Ollie,” she said. “Clark was just making conversation." She pointed one of her chopsticks in Oliver's direction. "No one is making light of what you guys do. But you can't deny you spend half that time naked," she teased, hoping to at least get a smug smile out of him so he would relax.

 

Oliver didn't say anything for a moment as he slowly chewed his food. He knew Lois was right and Clark was just being Clark, but he was tired of his self-righteous attitude. "I'm not denying anything," he told Lois before shifting his gaze to Clark. "By the way, how did the cape go over last night?" he asked casually.

 

Clark choked on the food in his mouth, a mixture of rice and lo mien shooting onto the table as he tried to get his breathing under control without snorting food into his lungs. His gaze shot up to Oliver's, eyes going wide as he flushed scarlet before turning to Lois. "Is _that_ why you never replied to my text?" 

 

Confused, Lois glanced between the two men, wondering how on earth Oliver knew about the cape. "What text?" she asked.

  
He pointed to Oliver, "Because _he_ got it?" Clark groaned. This quite literally had to be the most embarrassing moment of his life. Chloe watched the exchange and arched an eyebrow before stealing some food off of Oliver's plate, "A cape?" She asked clearly confused.

 

Oliver shot her an amused glance, looking pointedly at the food she'd stolen from him before meeting her eyes. "Yeah, a cape. I got an interesting text from Clark when I was leaving work last night." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "I want to make sure I get the wording right." He scrolled through his messages until he found it.

 

"Also, I may or may not be wearing a cape right now. Hint: I am," he read. Oliver smirked at Clark as he watched him struggling not to choke. "What was that you were saying the other day about not texting while the phones were messed up?" he asked.

 

Chloe chuckled and glanced at her cousin, "Really, Lo, capes do it for you?" Her body shook lightly with laughter, amused that she finally had something to tease her cousin about.   
  
Clark glared in Oliver's direction, irritation filling him at the comparison. That was supposed to be private and even though Oliver's texts were supposed to be private too, it was completely different. Oliver was a lot more open about sex then he was. Clark liked to keep his and Lois's escapades private.  
  
He swallowed to clear his throat and pointed at his so called friend, "I'm pretty sure my text, which by the way was _supposed_ to be private, was a lot more G-rated then anything you’ve ever sent your wife," he snapped.  
  
Chloe frowned, "Uh, hello his wife has a name." Clark turned his gaze on her and pursed his lips. "You're just as bad as he is! You egg him on even, it's...it’s ridiculous." He crossed his arms over his chest, lips forming a pout, wishing he was somewhere else. He knew he shouldn't have worn the cape.

 

Still smirking, Oliver wrapped his arm around Chloe's shoulders. "That's beside the point, Clark. You've been lecturing me for weeks, but apparently you weren't kidding when you said Chloe and I weren't the only adventurous ones. Granted, I thought the porch swing was a little safe, but a cape? That's impressive," he said.

 

Clark let out and indignant noise. “The porch is in the front of the house where anyone can just walk by and see us!”

 

"Wait a minute, you told him about the porch swing?" Lois broke in before Oliver had a chance to respond. Her eyes were wide when she turned to fiancé. "Smallville, I had no idea you were so open about our sex life. Who else have you been sharing with?" she asked.

 

If it was possible, Clark's face got even redder as he pushed his glasses up on his nose and made a face. He glanced at Lois completely flustered. "I'm not open with our," he glanced around the restaurant and leaned in, " _sex life_ ," he whispered.

 

Oliver snorted at him whispering the word and cocked an eyebrow, waiting to see what else Clark was going to accuse him of. He threw his arm up in Oliver's direction. "He was being an ass and mocking me and I got mad and might have mentioned that we had sex on the porch swing...but it wasn't my fault!" he shouted.

 

"It wasn't your fault?" Oliver rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure I didn't put a kryptonite arrow to your head and demand details," he retorted. Chloe chuckled and Clark glared at her before continuing to speak.

 

" _Besides_ ," he said, going back to glaring at Oliver as he jabbed a thumb in Chloe's direction, "I'm sure you've indulged your wife in her leather fetish fantasies as we've _all_ been around to witness. The difference is Lois and I keep the things we do to ourselves...unlike you."

 

If he hadn't been so annoyed, Oliver would have felt sorry for Clark. The poor bastard was clueless. "I'd never deny my wife anything," he said. "But you might want to learn a thing or two about women before you keep digging yourself an even deeper hole."

 

Chloe snorted, covering her mouth immediately so she didn't break into another round of laughter. Poor Clark really must not know that she and Lois told each other everything. She bit her bottom lip to keep from saying anything as her hand fell to Oliver's leg gripping it lightly.

  
Clark frowned as he glanced between Chloe and Lois. "What?"

 

Lois chewed on her bottom lip, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she gave Oliver a swift kick under the table. "Stop it. You too, cuz," she added. Turning to Clark, she gave him her sweetest smile. "Honey, maybe we should talk about something else," she suggested.

 

Clark’s brows furrowed, frown deepening. He would absolutely not let it go. Obviously something was going on that he didn’t know about and it involved _his_ fiancée. His eyes turned to slits as he eyed the three people around him, arms crossing over his chest. “No, I want to know what’s going on.”

 

He arched an eyebrow at Lois, but before she could say anything Chloe cleared her throat, drawing Clark’s attention to her. “You do realize that Lois and I are cousins…right, Clark?” Confusion settled on his face. “Yeah…so?” Chloe smirked as she tossed a piece of broccoli into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it.

 

“We tell each other _everything_ ,” she met his eyes, giving him a knowing look, “and I mean everything.” Clark gaped at her. He was pretty sure he looked like a tomato, but what made him even angrier was knowing that Oliver was probably getting some kind of sick satisfaction out of his humiliation.

 

Oliver was very much enjoying Clark’s discomfort. He knew Chloe shared everything with Lois and he had no problem with that. If his wife wanted to brag about how amazing he was, who was he to get in her way? Leaning back against the booth, he took a bite of his egg roll and watched as Clark continued to stammer.

 

He pointed to himself, “She tells you about…I mean…and you two…” His voice trailed off and Chloe tilted her head to the side as she moved her food around her plate, voice completely casual as she spoke nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah…details and all that…we’re even really good at keeping track of who gets the most orgasms…it’s like a game. We tally up at the end of the month and whoever loses has to buy the other a shiny trinket of her choosing.”

 

Clark’s mouth dropped open as his head shot in Lois’s direction. He jabbed his finger in Chloe’s direction, “Is that true? Are you really turning our sex life into a competition? Did he know about this?” he asked, voice an octave higher than normal. He shook his head. “I can’t believe this…because Oliver and I need another venue to be competitive at…” he grumbled.

 

“It’s not a competition, exactly,” Lois replied. She glared at her cousin before meeting Clark’s outraged gaze. “It’s just girl talk, Clark and Chloe is exaggerating.” She was seriously going to murder her cousin. She vaguely wondered how Tess would look in the maid of honor dress she had seen in the department store display. “And Jolly Green over there is trying to get a rise out of you. He didn’t know about our...game,” she said for lack of a better word.

 

“I didn’t know,” Oliver confirmed. “But it doesn’t bother me.” He sent Clark a smug grin as he squeezed Chloe’s shoulder. “I think we both know who has the bigger collection of shiny trinkets, was it?”

 

Lois smirked at him. “Don’t be so sure, Mr. Green.” She laughed when his face fell and he turned to Chloe with a horrified look. “What?” he cried. Chloe winced and gave him a sideways glance, voice calm. “Lois and I are currently tied...” Clark smirked at Oliver wrapping his arm tighter around Lois as he addressed his friend. “You hear that, Oliver... we’re _tied_ ,” he said smugly. “Just because I don’t go around bragging doesn’t mean I don’t have amazing sex with my fiancée...so there.”

 

He was practically sticking his tongue out at him. Chloe pursed her lips as she squinted in Clark’s direction. “That might be true Clark, but Oliver holds the title for most orgasms in one night...so there.”  She was not going to let him, best friend or not, make her husband feel inadequate even though he could stand to be taken down a notch or too.

 

Oliver was only slightly pacified by that piece of information. He glared at Clark across the table, his jaw tense as his mind reeled from his wife’s revelation. He knew it was a stupid thing to be upset about and the last thing he wanted was to give Clark the satisfaction of thinking he had one upped him on any level.

 

“Well I guess you learn something new every day,” he muttered darkly as he reached for his glass of water. “Anything else you want to share with us?” Chloe opened her mouth but before she could say anything Clark cut in, “Oh, what’s the matter Oliver? You no longer want to talk about this now that I’m not as low down on the totem pole as you thought?” Clark couldn’t help but feel slightly proud of himself that he could match Oliver, of all people. And hell, maybe if he had known it was a contest, which he in no way condoned, he would have made sure Lois won. Okay, so maybe he was slightly competitive when it came to Oliver...it wasn’t his fault.

 

Chloe sucked in a deep breath at Oliver’s side and let it out slowly. Somehow she had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well. Damn her and her big mouth.

 

“Oh, we can talk about it all you want, Boy Scout,” Oliver replied, purposely using the code name that he knew Clark hated. “Tell me, Clark, what’s your record?” He gave his friend a cold smile. “How many times can you -”

 

“Do NOT finish that sentence,” Lois hissed. She threw her chopsticks down and glared at the three people surrounding her. “What is the matter with you two? Not everything needs to end with a ruler,” she snapped.

 

Chloe sighed, placing a hand on Oliver’s arm, “Lois is right.” She glanced at Clark. “I was just joking, okay? There’s no need to take everything so seriously god...you make fun of Ollie and I all the time.” She looked pointedly at Lois, “ _Both_ of you. I was just having a little fun.”

 

Clark scoffed, “No, you weren’t, you bragging, but it’s fine.” He lifted his fork and twirled some lo mien around it as he continued speaking, not looking at either of them. “There’s always next month...” he said, letting his voice trail off, but the implication was there.

 

“Damnit, Smallville, what did I just say?” Lois demanded. She turned to her fiancé, eyes narrowed and waited impatiently for him to meet her gaze. “If you keep this up, the only orgasms you’re going to get are going to come from your own hand.” She held up her finger when she heard an undignified snort come out of Oliver. She turned her head slightly and looked into his eyes. “Keep it up, Billionaire Boy and I’ll hide Chloe’s birth control. Then you can flash your naked chest at her all you want, but she won’t bite. Trust me on that,” she warned.

 

Chloe glanced at her cousin, the hint of a smile on her face, “Well played Lo, though I’m sure I’d just call Emil for some more, but we get your point.” She glanced at Oliver, rubbing his arm lightly before turning back toward Lois and Clark with a smile. “This is supposed to be a fun lunch, guys...” She looked at Clark and nodded toward her cousin.

 

“I thought Bridezilla had some wedding details she wanted to discuss with us,” Chloe said affectionately. Sure, she picked on Lois about being a wedding Nazi, but it was all in good fun. If it was her wedding she would probably be the same way...just another reason to send Zatanna yet _another_ thank you card.

 

“Chloe’s right,” Lois agreed. She sent each of the men a warning look. “Let’s just agree to keep our cape and leather fetishes in the bedroom where they belong.” A sly smile played across her face. “Or the porch swing,” she teased. “I’m not even going to list all the places you two like to get busy because some of us need to get back to work at a reasonable time.”

 

Oliver rolled his eyes, some of the tension in his shoulders relaxing. He placed his hand over Chloe’s and offered Lois a smile before turning to face Clark. He still wasn’t thrilled with the direction the conversation had gone and he had every intention of making sure Chloe won every month for the rest of their lives, but he knew it was time to change the subject.

 

“Actually, I talked to my tailor and he wanted you to stop by for a fitting. He said anytime this week would work,” he told Clark.

 

Clark relaxed in his seat, taking a sip of his water before nodding. “Thank you and Thursday might be good if he’s free, pending any emergencies of course. I think Lois wants to try and get everything taken care of as soon as possible.” He sent a smile at his fiancée before lifting her hand and pressing a kiss against it. “So the sooner the better,” he said.

 

Lois smiled proudly and reached for her chopsticks again so she could finish her meal. She wasn’t about to let two overgrown children stop her from enjoying her food. She took a bite of her egg roll while she speared a piece of chicken with her chopstick. She was going to have to come up with some new bonding activities for Clark and Ollie. It amazed her that they had literally stopped the world from ending together on more than one occasion, but they couldn’t seem to manage a simple conversation without getting into a fight. Men, she thought.

 

 


	10. Rock You Like a Hurricane

Chloe glanced at the computer screen, a frown on her face as she looked over all the different flower sample photos her cousin had sent her. Who knew there were so many different types of flowers? She sure as hell didn’t. Since things were still abnormally slow in town, Chloe had spent the morning categorizing all of their backlogged files and entering them into the database. Unfortunately, that little project had only taken until about noon.

 

Oliver was in meetings all day until at least three, so when she’d called Lois earlier to whine, of course her cousin had been thrilled to give her something to do. Lois had been able to narrow down the flower list to about 50 different version of what looked like the same flower to Chloe, but she couldn’t be sure.

 

She sighed, bending down to grab a piece of paper when she paused, wincing slightly at the movement. She shifted, scrunching her nose and grabbing a chair before carefully plopping down in it and bringing the keyboard to her lap as she tried to get comfortable. Every inch of her body was sore and thinking about how it got that way made her groan lightly.

 

Chloe had no idea what had come over her husband yesterday, but Oliver had been all kinds of crazy – not that he wasn’t normally crazy – but yesterday had seemed more on the intense side than usual. She was pretty sure it was the lack of action on patrol. He had so much pent up energy and nowhere to release it. And yesterday, boy did he release it.

 

She smirked as she leaned back in her chair, eyes sliding shut as she let the images from last night wash over her. Her tongue darted out, running against her lower lip as she recalled the way he’d pounded into her from practically every angle he could and then some. He had used everything that was at his disposal. She groaned as she felt a familiar ache between her legs.

 

She opened her eyes and shook her head. She was horrible. All she had to do was think about the things Oliver did to her and she was wet and willing. Didn’t her body release how much it hurt? Apparently it didn’t care. She gnawed on her lower lip before pushing herself carefully out of the seat and making her way over to the computer console.

 

She lifted her phone, scrolling through her contacts until she landed on Oliver. She glanced at the clock and even though she knew he wasn’t out of his meeting just yet, she figured it couldn’t hurt to send him a little message. She walked slowly back to the seat and sat down as she typed her message and pushed send. Chloe grinned to herself as she closed her eyes again and leaned back in the seat waiting to hear Oliver’s response to her comment.

 

______

 

Emil pinched the bridge of his nose as he smiled politely at his last patient of the day as she made her way into the hall. When she disappeared from sight, his eyes strayed to the clock and he let out a short sigh as he pushed himself off the small stool. It was just after one in the afternoon and he had a meeting with Oliver in a half hour to update him on the team’s medical records and physicals. He glanced around the small room as he packed up his bag.

 

Due to the lack in criminal activity lately, Emil had had more time to not only volunteer at the hospital’s free clinic, which was what he was doing today, but also to spend time with Tess. He smiled lightly at the thought of her. Things seemed to be progressing nicely with their relationship. They were taking things fairly slow since they had both been hurt in the past; though the situations were entirely different.

 

He lifted up his things and made his way to the door, pulling it open and walking toward the hallway. He waved to the head nurse on staff, and she smiled at him as he said his goodbyes and walked through the sliding doors that led to the parking lot. Emil was in the process of pulling out his keys and using the key-less entry to open his car from several feet away when his cell phone went off in his pocket.

 

He swore lightly, remembering that he was expecting a message from Tess. He pulled open the car door quickly, tossed everything inside and dug the phone out of his pocket as he moved around to the driver’s side door. He got in the car and before starting it, he slid his fingers over the cell phone screen, brows furrowing when he saw the message was from Chloe not Tess.

 

He opened the message and his eyes widened. He blinked several times trying to see if maybe he was reading it wrong. But the words stayed the same.

 

_“I am sorer today than I was after my first car wreck. Take it as a compliment that you bang harder than a semi-truck.”_

Emil frowned as he reread the text message. It was more than obvious this message was meant for Oliver; there was no doubt in his mind. He had heard from Tess that there was something wrong with the phones, so he assumed this was part of that glitch. He pursed his lips, glancing at the text one more time before putting his phone down and starting his car.

 

Sex was a healthy and fun way to exercise the body, but excessively rough sex could also be damaging. As a doctor he found himself wondering how often Chloe texted Oliver with statements like that. It was definitely something worth looking into; he was already going to Oliver’s office to meet with him anyway...what was one more question? He pulled the car away from the curb, taking a deep breath and heading in the direction of Luthor Corp.

 

______

 

Oliver was only half-listening as he sat on the phone with one of the Queen Industries’ board members. Alan had been with the company nearly as long as the company had been around and Oliver usually didn’t mind talking to him because he always had good stories about his parents. But after the initial catch up session, Alan had started talking about the company stock and aside from the fact that the prices continued to rise which meant Oliver was doing his job, he really had no interest in debating the minute details of the market.

 

A smirk crossed his lips as Oliver’s mind drifted to the night before. He’d come home early from patrol since the streets had been devoid of crime once again and he’d taken one look at Chloe sitting at the desk, biting down on the corner of her lip in concentration as she studied something on the screen and he’d felt a desperate need clawing in his stomach.

 

Oliver was pretty sure he’d set a new record for removing her clothes and then he’d proceeded to take her over and over again on nearly every surface in their apartment. He’d even found some new places they’d never tried before.

 

He was brought back to reality when there was a sharp knock on his office door and then Emil poked his head in. Oliver motioned for the doctor to come in and forced himself to listen to what Alan was saying on the phone. As soon as he paused for a breath, Oliver seized the opportunity.

 

“Alan, it was nice talking to you, but my next appointment just walked in. Give my best to Monica and please let Chloe and me know when you two are free for dinner.” Oliver ended the call and grinned at Emil. “Sorry about that. How are things?” he asked.

 

The doctor game him a tight smile as he sat in the seat in front of him, folders already in hand. “Things are going quite well,” He lifted the files in his hand and slid them onto Oliver’s desk. “Those are the reports on all the mission related accidents and follow-ups over the past six months. Everything should be there, but if it’s not just call me and I can get whatever else you need to you.”

 

"Thanks." Oliver flipped open the folder and started to glance over the information. He felt it was important to make sure the team was strict about following up with Emil anytime there was an incident, no matter how small it seemed at the time. They were great at saving the world, but they all tended to ignore their own health from time to time.

 

He had been guilty of it as well in the past, but Chloe had been watching out for him long before the impromptu archery lesson that started it all and she made sure he saw Emil if his injuries couldn't be treated at Watchtower. 

 

Emil hesitated, not exactly sure how to bring up the text message that he’d received on his way over. He cleared his throat, straightening in his seat, “How are things with you? How’s married life treating you?” He asked, hoping to segue into the conversation as normally as possible.

 

"Things are good," Oliver said absently as he continued to skim the file. "I think we're all getting tired of twiddling our thumbs in the field, but I guess it's a good thing." He set the file down and grinned at Emil. "Married life, on the other hand is excellent," he said proudly.

 

Emil nodded, pursing his lips. "That's good..." his voice trailed off and he debated on just bringing up the text message right then and there, but decided against it. It would probably be better if he eased into the conversation. "I wonder if I might speak freely with you about something."

 

Oliver arched an eyebrow at that, the smile slowly disappearing from his face as he took in the way Emil was looking at him. He was good at reading other people and the doctor was clearly uncomfortable about something. "Of course," Oliver said. He sat up straighter in his chair, resting his hands on the desk in front of him. "What's on your mind, Emil?"

 

He figured the best way to deal with the situation was to just come out and be open with it. They were all adults and though admitting he got Oliver's text might be slightly awkward, Emil was a doctor and dealt with situations like this often, minus the random text messages of course. "In your line of work, both your day and night jobs, there is a lot of stress that builds up, one would assume, and I'd like to discuss how you go about releasing that tension."

 

"Okay," Oliver said slowly. He had no idea where Emil was going with this.

 

Emil could see the confusion on the other man's face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He scrolled through the messages, coming to the one that Chloe had meant to send to Oliver, clicked on it and he held the phone out, motioning for him to take the phone.

 

More confused than ever, Oliver took the phone from Emil and glanced down at the screen, wondering what had made the doctor so tongue-tied. He'd always been blunt with him; it was one of the reasons Oliver had decided to retain his services to begin with.

 

His eyes widened slightly as he read the message from Chloe. "Well, this is awkward." Glancing up from the phone, Oliver offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, man. There's something wrong with the phones. Obviously, Chloe meant to send that to me." He handed Emil his phone back.

 

He took it, confusion on his face as he put it back into his pocket, concerned about the lack of a response from Oliver. "Obviously, I'm aware of that...that isn't why I showed it to you," Emil sighed and shook his head. "It wasn't the text that disturbed as much as what it said that did. I know how much you love Chloe and I'd never presume to know how your relationship works, but...you realize that overly aggressive sex can have severe complications...don’t you?"

 

Emil could have pulled out a gun and shot him and Oliver would have been less shocked than he was by the words that had just come out of the doctor's mouth.

 

Oliver opened and closed his mouth a few times, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the man sitting across from him. "Excuse me?" he said finally.

 

"Well, as Chloe's doctor I'm slightly concerned if she's feeling sorer than when she was in a car accident." He gave Oliver a pacifying look, hoping to get the expression of shock off the other man's face. "All I mean is, as far as men go your frame is larger than most and your reflexes, strength and agility, frankly, are off the charts."

 

He paused, letting Oliver take the information in, hoping he wasn't getting the wrong idea. "Chloe, on the other hand, is small, petite and while she's fit and her body has been able to withstand quite a bit over the years, she's still significantly more compact. I'm slightly concerned that you didn't even bat an eye at how sore your wife is. Does that happen often enough that's it's not a surprise to you?" he asked, tone gentle, not to provoke Oliver. He wasn't naive enough to think he wasn't treading on shaky territory.

 

The shock on Oliver's face quickly gave way to anger, his jaw tight as he narrowed his eyes at Emil. "What exactly are you accusing me of here, Emil?" he asked, voice quiet and ice cold. "Are you honestly sitting there telling me you think I'm some kind of asshole who gets off on abusing his tiny wife? What the hell is wrong with you?" Oliver's voice bounced off the walls of the office.

 

Emil had expected this reaction, so he took a deep breath and spoke calmly, but not once losing his conviction. “Please lower your voice, and no, Oliver, that is not what I’m saying. By now I like to think we know each other well enough for you to know that I’m not coming here to accuse you of anything, but out of concern even though you and Chloe obviously aren’t concerned about this.”

 

He motioned to his pocket. “I know how much you love Chloe. I know you’d never consciously hurt her in any way. I am not questioning that. And obviously _she_ has no problem with your bedroom activities. What I’m saying, is that while you two are obliviously enjoying yourselves, neither one of you might be aware of the damage you’re doing to her body.”

 

He sighed. “There is no reason for you to be defensive. I’m always on your side. I’m looking out for both of you, Oliver. I’m just concerned, that’s all. I mean how many times do you normally have sex in one day? Did you know that over stimulation can actually be painful?”

 

Oliver continued to glare at Emil as he forced himself to take a deep breath and fight the urge to wrap his hands around the other man's neck and show him just how aggressive he could be. Leaning back in his chair, he took a moment to sort through everything the doctor had said to him.

 

Logically, he knew he may have overreacted initially. Emil had always supported his relationship with Chloe and he had said himself he knew that Oliver loved her and would never hurt her on purpose. But even if he hadn't meant to imply that he was abusing her, he _had_ implied that Oliver might not be paying enough attention to her physical condition and he was hurting her because he was too selfish to notice. Was he right?

 

"It's no secret that Chloe and I have sex a lot," he said finally. His jaw was still clenched as he met Emil's eyes across the desk. "At least twice a day, but sometimes it's more like four or five."

 

Emil nodded, leaning forward slightly as he spoke. "And that's fine..." He hesitated slightly before continuing, "And on a night like last night? How many times would you say the two of you were together?"

 

Shifting uncomfortably, Oliver felt a rare blush coloring his cheeks as he considered the question. The previous night had been rather adventurous and he wasn't sure how exactly Emil wanted him to tally things. "A lot," he said, keeping his eyes focused on a spot over the doctor's head.

 

Emil considered Oliver's words and the fact that it was rare for the man in front of him to blush, which meant it was probably more than normal even for him. "I see." He was quiet for a moment. "Look, I get it. Sex is fun, it's a great release of energy and in moderation it's actually quite healthy. The thing is, Chloe loves you and I don't think she'd ever say no to you because I'm pretty sure she enjoys your extracurricular activities as much as you do." He met Oliver's eyes, voice growing serious.

 

"But at some point, one of you needs to draw the line. Did you ever think that maybe she wants you as much as you want her and so she ignores the fact that her body is protesting and keeps going anyway?" He shook his head. "That isn't good for her body. And it could lead to her being in pain for days, swelling of the vaginal walls, even a bruised cervix. It's wrong to assume that just because you have a lot of sex that the body gets used to having it over and over again. All I'm saying is it should be spread out." Emil shrugged. "Have some sex in the morning; at lunch...at night...give the body time to relax."

 

Oliver felt the color drain from his face as Emil's words sank in. He knew Chloe was sore from time to time, but he'd never really given it much thought aside from being proud of himself for taking away her ability to walk. He suddenly felt like the world's biggest jackass. He was so busy thinking with his ego that he was completely blind to the fact that he was causing her pain, something he would could never fathom himself doing under any other circumstances.

 

Was Emil right? Was Chloe holding back how much pain she was really in because she didn't want to hurt his feelings? That definitely sounded like something she would do. Oliver winced as he thought about how he had slammed her up against the wall of his equipment room, pounding into her until she was literally sobbing his name. He'd barely given her a minute to recover before he had her spread out on his desk.

 

"I had no idea," he said quietly as he met Emil's gaze once again. "Is it possible to do permanent damage?" His heart leapt into his throat as he waited for the doctor to answer.

 

Emil caught the guilt in Oliver's eyes and he immediately attempted to expel it, knowing the leader of their team was prone to taking all the responsibility for things and putting the blame on himself. "While it is possible to cause permanent damage, I highly doubt you've caused any."  
  
He gave Oliver a small smile, "From your earlier reaction, I take it that last night was more intense than even you two are used to. I'm not saying you can't ever do that, once in awhile isn't going to cause any permanent damage, but if the two of you are planning on..." He paused looking for the right word. "Making a night of it, then incorporate things like a hot bath to soothe the muscles in between rounds or lubricants and massages,” he suggested.  
  
Emil shifted in his seat, leaning back as he continued. "My advice is to feel her out. If it looks like it's too much then stop. If you're constantly stimulating her body it will respond whether or not she's too sore to continue. So though she may keep having orgasms, at some point it's possible for the pleasure to get too intense."

 

Oliver had been nodding along; his heart starting to beat normally again once Emil said it wasn't likely he'd caused Chloe any permanent damage. But as soon as he heard the good doctor's "advice" for him, Oliver's eyes narrowed.

 

"Emil," he said coolly. "While I appreciate your medical opinion, I'd prefer that you never speak of my wife's orgasms or how I should go about stimulating her ever again." Oliver's gaze was intense when he met Emil's. "Trust me when I tell you that there is no issue there."

 

Emil swallowed hard, gulping just slightly as he nodded quickly, "I didn't mean, I wasn't...that wasn't a specific comment about Chloe, I apologize I should have specified."  
  
It was the first time during their conversation he was actually flustered. "All women's body will respond, regardless of being sore or not, was what I meant. It was a generalization..." He scratched the back of his neck, "and I'm well aware there's no issue there, I believe that was the reason for this conversation in the first place."  
  
He paused, glancing around the room before his eyes fell back on Oliver. "Well, I've said my piece; I appreciate you taking time to listen." Which he was pretty sure by the look on the blonde’s face, he was done doing.

 

"Have a good afternoon, Emil," Oliver replied, his tone indicating there was nothing else that needed to be said on the matter. He continued to just stare at the flustered doctor as he waited for him to get out of his office.  
 

Emil sighed as he pushed out of his seat, giving Oliver a short nod and heading towards the door. He supposed he should just be happy that it went as well as it did. 

   
Once the door closed behind Emil, the scowl faded from Oliver's face and he leaned back in his chair as he thought about the man's warning. Despite the way the conversation had ended, Emil had brought up some valid concerns. Oliver started to reach for his phone and then changed his mind, deciding this was a conversation that needed to happen face to face. It was the only way he could fully gage Chloe's reaction.  
   
He logged out of his computer, grabbed his keys from the drawer and made his way out of the office, pausing to let his assistant know that he was going to be unavailable for the rest of the afternoon before walking down the hall to the elevator. Oliver knew Tess was in meetings at the Planet all day so Chloe would be alone at Watchtower. He pushed the button for the parking garage and let out a sigh. Something told him Chloe was going to be even less thrilled with this conversation than he was.

______

Chloe stared at the screen, yet another sample filling the largest monitor. She squinted, using the keyboard to type something out before sending out the very last email to Lois. "Freedom at last," she grumbled as she exited out of all the windows. Her head craned to the side, checking the clock and she frowned.  
  
It was after three and Oliver still hadn't texted her back. She lifted the phone off her chest just to make sure she hadn't missed his text, which apparently she hadn't since the screen was blank. Chloe took a minute to glance around the quiet building before shifting in her chair, letting her heels drop to the ground and lifting her legs up, slowly placing them on the console.  
  
Her finger danced across the keyboard as she checked on the system and looked into what was going on in the city before letting out a puff of air. Nothing, it was ridiculously quiet. She didn't think she'd ever been so bored. She was almost hoping something exciting would happen, not that she wanted anyone to get hurt.  
  
She pressed a few buttons and brought up her iTunes library, which was a well kept secret, on the computer before pressing play, tilting her head back and closing her eyes as the music floated softly through the room.  
  
Chloe relaxed into the seat, the tension leaving her body as the sound surrounded her. She was so relaxed that she missed the sound of the elevator and the light beeping on the console letting her know that someone was entering Watchtower.

Pushing open the double doors, Oliver stopped short when his eyes fell on Chloe. She was lying back in her chair with her feet up, eyes closed as music from her iTunes that she thought she was cleverly hiding from him drifted through the speakers. She gave no indication that she'd heard him come in and he wondered if she was too delirious with pain to be aware of her surroundings.

 

He was a terrible person.

 

Oliver crossed the room to her, leaning down to gently brush her hair back from her face. "I'm so sorry, Sidekick," he said. Chloe blinked, her body jolting slightly, Oliver's voice startling her. "Ollie?" She pushed herself up, leaving her feet up as she hit the button stopping the music. She gave him a sheepish smile, "Hey there, Hero, I didn't know you were stopping by."   
  
It took her a second to register his words and when she did, coupled with the odd look on his face, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Sorry, why, what'd you do?"

 

His first instinct was to gather her in his arms and hold her tight against his chest, but the last thing Oliver wanted was to cause her anymore pain, so he settled for taking her hand and pressing a light kiss to it as he stared into her eyes, watching her reactions carefully.

 

"I'm sorry that I cause you more pain than a car accident," Oliver replied flatly. He winced at the thought and dropped her hand, taking a step back from her. It was probably best if he just kept his hands to himself. "Why didn't you say something sooner, Chloe?" he asked.

 

"What?" Chloe arched an eyebrow at him, thoroughly confused. Her text had upset him? And why was he suddenly several feet away from her? "Okay...I'm confused. You're going to have to clue me in on whatever it is that has your head working overtime. And where's my hello kiss?"

 

Oliver hesitated for a few seconds before moving forward and dropping a chaste kiss on her lips. Straightening to his full height once again, his eyes roamed over her, checking the skin he could see for bruises. He didn't see any on her arms and legs, but he couldn't help wondering if she had internal ones like Emil had suggested.

 

Sighing, he dropped his head to his chest. "How long has this been happening, Chloe? The soreness? Does it happen every time or just when we have sex more than once without a break?" Oliver risked a glance at her, his eyes filled with shame. "Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you at the time?"

 

Chloe opened and closed her mouth, eyes wide. She was quiet for a minute and she tried to figure out how to respond to her husband. If it wasn't for the shame in his eyes, she might have laughed at the ridiculousness of his statement.  
  
She pulled her legs down, standing up slowly and took a step towards him, one arm hesitantly gripping his waist the other sliding up and down his arm in a comforting gesture.  
  
"What? Ollie what are you talking about?" The confusion left her face as she tilted her head to the side. "Is this about my text? I didn't mean to upset you. I just meant you outdid yourself last night. Surprisingly, for once I was trying to stroke that ego of yours; I thought it would make you smile." She smirked, pressing herself closer to him. "I'm fine, a little sore but good sex will do that," she chuckled lightly, still not really grasping how serious he was being.

 

"No, Chloe," Oliver said firmly. The fact that she was trying to comfort him after what he had done to her only made him feel like a bigger jackass. "You need to sit down." He put his hands on her hips to guide her back to her chair and instantly thought better of it, pulling away from her like she had burned him. "I'm sorry."

 

Taking another step back from her, Oliver blew out a shaky breath as he dragged his hands through his hair. "You're not supposed to be this sore, Chloe. I could have caused you permanent damage and I am going to make damn sure that doesn't happen even if we never have sex again."

 

Chloe's mouth dropped open in shock. What the hell was wrong with him? She heard his words but they made no sense. She wasn't supposed to be this sore? Permanent damage? What in the world was he going on about? What did that have to do with anything? Of course she expected to be sore after last night, who wouldn't be?  
  
Her jaw clenched slightly as she pursed her lips and took a deep breath. She put a hand on her hip as she spoke, a hint of irritation in her voice. "Okay...I thought maybe this was some kind of joke, but obviously it's not. Stop apologizing."  
  
She paused as she pointed at him. Her chest tightened slightly as she pushed down her hurt feelings. "You have two minutes to tell me what the hell is going on and why you're acting like it disgusts you to touch me, " she said, a slight hitch at the end of her voice.   
  
Even before they were married Oliver had always made it a point to be affectionate with her. And if anything, it had only increased since they'd gotten married and yet here he was standing in front of her, pushing her away. The mere action made her heart hurt.

 

The hitch in her voice was like a knife to his heart. Ignoring his reservations, Oliver closed the distance between them, carefully wrapping one arm around her waist while his other hand cupped her cheek. He slowly stroked his thumb over her chin as his eyes locked with hers.

 

"Of course touching you doesn't disgust me, Chloe. I'd spend every minute of every day with my hands on you if I could." He brushed his lips against hers before he continued. "But I had no idea how much I was hurting you until today when Emil told me all the ways sex was harmful to your body."

 

Her head reared back at his words. Why in the world would Emil be talking to Oliver about their sex life? "I'm sorry...Emil was telling you what now?" She didn't bother waiting for an answer before reassuring him. "Oliver...there is nothing wrong with me and I don't know why Emil would even say that." She gripped him to her tightly as she shook her head, confusion on her face. "You have never hurt me Ollie...ever." She gave him a small smile as she slid a hand around his back. "Sex with you is very, very good for my body. Trust me." She leaned up brushing a kiss against his cheek and then his chin. "As a matter of fact, I spent most of my day thinking about last night," she whispered saucily.

 

"Chloe," Oliver said warily. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by pulling back again, but he didn't want her to get the wrong idea either. He tried to compromise by placing both hands on her hips and easing back from her slightly so she was forced to tilt her head to look up at him.

 

"Emil came by my office today to go over the latest medical reports and he's the one who showed me your text. It went to him by mistake," he explained.

 

She flushed slightly and groaned, "This is getting out of hand. We really need these phones fixed. I was sending that to you," She rolled her eyes and decided not to let it bother her. Emil was professional about things and he wouldn't say anything to anyone. "I'm sure he'll keep it to himself," she said as she smiled up at him. "Sorry he got your message, Hero. I was trying to spice up your afternoon. I should have realized you didn't get it when you didn't respond in that smug way I love so much."

 

He groaned. "Chloe, please stop. My arrogance is what got us into this situation. Emil said that I could be causing you serious pain and it's not normal for you to be this sore." Oliver fought the urge to move away from her again as the guilt washed over him.

 

"He told me that you're probably just going along with what I want because you love me and that's not fair, Sidekick. You should have told me how bad it was. You're more important than my ego." Oliver moved his hand back to her cheek, stroking it lightly.

 

Her body tensed, green eyes turning to slits as she stepped out of his arms and moved away from him, crossing her arms over her chest, anger rolling off her in waves. "Let me get this straight. Emil came into _your_ office, and told you that the only reason I let you have crazy, wild, sore body inducing sex with me is because I love you?...And you think that's true?" she asked, eerily calm as she gazed up at him.

 

The fact that her tone was a direct contrast to the look in her eyes made Oliver nervous. Rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, he tried to figure out how he had lost control of the conversation so fast. "No, he said you obviously enjoy it, but maybe not as much as you let me think you do." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he would have given anything to take them back.

 

Her expression didn't waver as she nodded. "Oh, I see...so now not only am I some kept woman who has no mind of her own and who only has sex with her husband to keep him happy, despite the _horrible_ pain, but apparently I fake orgasms too." Chloe didn't know whether to yell or cry. She jabbed a finger in his chest. "Well that's just fine. Trust me; sex isn't something _you'll_ have to worry about for a long time." She spun around on her heel, moisture pooling in her eyes as she stomped off toward the kitchen less effectively than if she'd been wearing her heels.

 

"Chloe!" Oliver went after her, his long stride easily overpowering hers, as he stepped in front of her, blocking her path before she had a chance to leave the main room. "That's not what I meant and that's not what Emil meant either." He placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her from walking away again.

 

"I know this is coming out wrong but all I care about is making sure that I'm not hurting you. Don't you get that, Chloe? Emil told me that it was possible that I was hurting you and you weren't saying anything because you didn't want to hurt me in return. But I need you to be honest with me. How much pain are you in?" he asked.

 

She looked up at him, shaking his arms off her and taking a step back. "The normal amount Oliver… _God_...you honestly think I wouldn’t tell you if you did something that hurt me?" She looked away from him, attempting to get control of her emotions.

 

She knew he cared and she could see how upset the thought of hurting her made him, but she thought they were on the same page and the fact that he'd even question her about it hurt. She turned back to face him, tears in her eyes. "You and I have always had one rule...honesty. What in the world would make you think I'd be anything less than honest with you about _this_?"

 

She swallowed hard and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm sore, yeah, I've been sore before, but it's never a bad sore. I like knowing I can feel where you've been on my body for a day or so after. I like knowing that you're the only person who can do that to me. I like having the evidence that you've been there..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced down, holding in her tears.

 

"And even though I know it's well meaning because you always have my best interest at heart, it really hurts that you'd assume I'd lie to you about something that could make you feel this bad. I would never do anything that would hurt you...just like you'd never do anything to hurt me. I thought we both knew that...apparently I was wrong," she whispered while sniffling slightly.

 

Oliver hadn't thought it was possible to feel any worse than he had after Emil had walked out of his office. Once again, he found himself proved wrong. Swallowing hard, he stepped forward, closing the distance between them as he reached out and took her face in his hands. He brushed a stray tear from her cheek as he tilted her face up so she was forced to meet his gaze.

 

"I'm sorry, Chloe," he said simply. "I let Emil's warning get inside my head and I assumed the worst. I know you would never lie to me and I would never lie to you. Chloe, I love the idea of you thinking about me, about us, after we've been together. God knows that's all I do. I just can't stand the thought that I might have hurt you, even if it was unintentional." He stared into her eyes, silently begging her to see just how much he loved her.

 

Chloe moved in closer to him as she let out a long breath, placing her hand over his that was on her cheek, "I know," she whispered, the tension draining from her shoulders, "and okay...maybe sometimes I'm so involved in what we're doing I forget that the next morning I might be a little sore, but I swear, you've _never_ hurt me and I've never regretted anything we've done."

 

She slid an arm around his midsection pulling him closer and leaning her head against his chest to be close to him, the thump of his heart beneath her ear calming her slightly. "I love you too, so much and I hate that Emil freaked you out. But if it will make you feel better, if I ever get to the point where the pain overpowers the pleasure you will be the first person I tell. Okay?" she asked softly.

 

"Deal," Oliver replied. He slanted his mouth over hers, his tension finally easing as he focused on how good her lips felt under his. When air became an issue, Oliver eased back slowly, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth as he watched the hurt on her face disappear. "I love you, Sidekick."

 

Chloe grinned, happy that he finally seemed to release the tension in his body as she gripped the back of his neck, leaning in and pressing another quick kiss against his lips. "I love you too, Hero," she said softly, sending a wink his way.

 

Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body closer to his as he kissed his way down her neck. "By the way, I think Emil might avoid me for awhile."

 

Chloe tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to the column of her throat, hands running up and down his back as she snorted. "If Emil is smart he'll be avoiding _me_ for awhile...he's lucky I don't erase his entire patient database, for what he put you through," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice before letting out a small moan as he reached a particularly sensitive spot with his mouth.

 

Oliver smirked against her skin. "Emil meant well," he said as he gently sucked on her pulse point. "He did suggest we limit our activities to three times a day," he said.

 

Chloe rolled her eyes as one of her hands slid around him toward his belt, tugging him even closer, as her heartbeat quickened. "Oh, did he...?" She made a face while pressing her body flush against his, voice low. "Just because he can't get Tess to sneak off more than three times a day doesn't mean we should be deprived. I will have my way with you any damn time I please and Emil can, for lack of a better word, suck it."

 

Oliver chuckled. "I think I like this side of you, Sidekick. It's kind of hot," he teased. He cupped her breast in his palm, his thumb brushing lightly over her nipple. "What do you say we get out of here?" he suggested huskily.

 

Chloe's eyes fluttered shut, nails biting into his arms as she moaned softly, arousal sparking in her body. "Forget getting out of here...we'd never make it home." Her hand slid down, cupping him through his pants and massaging him slowly, her voice lowering as she spoke. "But, I guess if you want to wait I completely respect that." She smirked, pulling her hand and body away from him before spinning around and walking back toward her computers.

 

He grinned, reaching out to snake his arm around her waist and pull her body firmly against his. "That's very cute, Chloe." Oliver pressed his lips to the back of her neck as his hand moved to her breast again, kneading her flesh through the thin material of her blouse. "Tell me how you want me," he said.

 

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, the feel of his hand against her breast making her forget any and all soreness that might have been present earlier in the day as her body automatically pushed back against his, bringing her ass in contact with the bulge in his pants. "Any way you want me," she sent a glance over her shoulder smirking, "though you know I'm partial to my desk."

 

She reached back, gripping his thigh lightly as she groaned, her head falling back against his chest. "You know I love it when you bend me over it...or spread me out on top of it...” she said, voice silky as she spun around in his arms. Chloe caught his eyes, leaning in closer to him. She stretched up on her tones, mouth near his ear, warm breath caressing his neck, "You haven't even gotten started yet and I'm already so wet...what are you waiting for Hero? Old age?" she asked, amusement mixed with lust in her eyes.

 

Oliver smirked as he gripped her hips and lifted her off her feet, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist, his erection pressing firmly against her core. He ground himself against her heat as he carried her the short distance to her desk and shoved everything off the edge before setting her down. He leaned into her, stopping when his mouth was a breath away from hers and looked into her eyes. "Are you sure about this, Sidekick? Speak now," he warned as his hand slid beneath her skirt.

 

She nodded toward the floor, pulse racing, as she leaned back on the desk, spreading her legs wider for him, humor in her voice. "Well you already shoved all my stuff off the desk...I feel like if I don't get at least one orgasm out of it, then you made a mess for nothing..." Her voice trailed off as she sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of his hand slipping beneath her skirt.

 

"Oh, I think we both know I can do better than one," Oliver replied confidently. He hooked his fingers into the waistband of her panties as his mouth took possession of hers.

 

Chloe was just pulling him closer and moaning into his mouth when several alerts on the monitors around them started going off. She pulled back, blinked and glanced at the screen closest to them. She glared at the computer, irritation on her face. "You've got to be kidding me! I've been waiting for that alarm to go off _all_ day...and it does it _now_?" She shouted and let out a small growl of frustration, pout falling on her lips.

 

Oliver groaned as he slid his hand out from underneath her skirt and took a step back so she could get up and take a closer look at the computer. He didn't know what was setting off the alarms, but he hoped it was something big because he suddenly had a lot of frustration that he needed to work off.

 

She hopped off the desk, made her way over to the computers and pressed a few buttons. "Unbelievable..." Lois had apparently decided she was going to email her through Watchtower's server and mark her message as a code red to alert the entire system. Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose, "I love Lois to death, but it's possible I might have to lock her up in a small room until the wedding."

 

"Lois?" Oliver repeated. He walked over to stand behind Chloe, reading the emergency message over her shoulder. "Is she serious with this?" he asked.

 

Chloe gave him a one armed shrug as she covered a yawn with her hand before speaking. "Apparently. I swear this wedding is going to be the death of us. I spent my morning looking at samples of 50 different flowers that, no joke, all looked pretty much the same." She sighed. "At least it will be over soon and they'll be husband and wife. Until then my vote is we hide.”

 

"That can be arranged." Oliver wrapped his arms around her and tugged her back until she was pressed against his chest. "Just say the word and I can call the pilot."

 

She let out a long breath while leaning back against him, "The word," she said as she tilted her head back giving him a cheeky grin.

 

Grinning, Oliver leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. "Come on, Mrs. Queen, I'm taking you home. I do believe our favorite doctor mentioned something about a bubble bath being a good way to ease some of your soreness," he commented as he reached over and pushed the button to erase Lois's message. "Look at that. Apparently whatever happened to the phones is also having an ill effect on the email."

 

Chloe chuckled sliding her hand into his and letting him pull her away from the computers. "My hero," she said before pausing, ears perking up. "Bubble bath? Oh, I like bubble baths..."

 


	11. Hit Me with Your Best Shot

Oliver expertly knotted the silk tie around his neck. Smoothing out his collar, he glanced in the mirror one last time to make sure he looked the part of the billionaire CEO. He ran his fingers through his still wet hair and decided he was glad his first meeting wasn’t for another hour. He’d only had about two hours of sleep and while that wasn’t out of the ordinary for him, the reason for the lack of sleep had been less than ideal.

 

He turned off the light in the walk-in-closet, pulled the door closed behind him and made his way into the bathroom. Oliver reached into the medicine cabinet for the bottle of aspirin, shook some into his hand and went back into the bedroom. Walking around to his wife’s side of the bed, he placed them on the nightstand beside the bottle of water he’d grabbed from the kitchen earlier and then looked down at his wife.

 

Normally, she woke up when he did; even if it was just to offer him a sleepy good morning kiss before falling back asleep. But she hadn’t stirred when his alarm went off or in the hour since. Oliver knew she was going to be hurting when she did open her eyes and he wished he didn’t have to leave her on her own. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

 

“Sorry Sidekick,” he whispered, not surprised when she still didn’t move. Oliver kissed her again before making his way downstairs. He grabbed his keys from his desk and pulled out his cell phone as he got into the elevator.

 

The doors closed behind him and he quickly typed out a message as the cage descended toward the garage level. Smirking to himself at the memory, Oliver pressed send. He couldn’t wait to see how she responded to this.

 

______

 

Clark jogged down the stairs, quietly making his way into the kitchen as he glanced at the clock on the wall. He let out a small groan as he walked over toward the fridge and pulled it open. He was running late. Thankfully, it would only take him seconds to get to the Planet or he’d have to rush through his entire morning routine.

 

He poured himself some orange juice, his eyes straying to the stairs where his fiancée still lay sleeping. Apparently she was taking the day off today, which was fine with him. With all the wedding stuff and trying to establish herself at the Planet, Lois had been running around like a mad woman without a head and he knew she could use a break.

 

It was part of the reason he hadn’t woken her when he got up that morning. Clark made his way over to the counter, popping some toast in the toaster as he fixed his tie, before smoothing down his shirt and taking a sip of his juice. He eyes roamed around the kitchen looking for his keys and wallet, which he was sure, was around there somewhere.

 

The toast popped up and as he was turning to pull it out, he heard his cell phone go off, the obnoxious ringer that Lois had set for his text messages blaring through the kitchen. He winced, turning and looking around for it so he could stop the offending noise.

 

He let out a small ‘ah ha’ when he caught sight of it on the kitchen table. He walked over, lifted it up and pushed one of the buttons making the screen come to life. His brows furrowed at Oliver’s name on the screen, wondering why his friend was texting him so early in the morning.

 

He slid his finger over the screen, bringing up the message and frowned, rolling his eyes. He re-read the message just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

 

_“I don’t know what kind of drugs you were on last night, but you kept trying to highlight my face because you said I was important…”_

Clark let out a snort. Oliver was seriously a horrible influence on Chloe. Ever since they started seeing each other, her personality had done a complete 180. Yes, he was glad she was happy and it was nice to see her finally enjoying things more than she used to, but he two of them were like a couple of teenagers.

 

He shook his head, clicked out of the message and scrolled through his phone book until he got to Oliver’s number. He sped to the toaster, grabbed his toast and pressed send as he shrugged on his suit jacket and made his way toward the door, while waiting for Oliver to pick up.

 

Oliver had just walked through the door of his office when he felt his phone vibrating. He pulled it out of his pocket, not bothering to check the caller ID as he brought it to his ear and slid into his desk chair, using his free hand to turn on his computer. It was too early for anyone other than his wife to be calling his personal phone.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, how's the headache?" he asked.

 

Clark arched an eyebrow as he paused on the front porch. "I wouldn't know I don't have one," he snorted, shifting and leaning against the porch railing. "Why is it that all of your weird text messages to Chloe always get sent to me? Is there some kind of anomaly in the universe that says I need to be brought into your world of crazy sex antics and weirdness?" he asked briskly.

 

Confused, Oliver pulled the phone back from his ear and saw Clark's name on the caller ID. Perfect. Just the person he wanted to deal with on two hours of sleep.

 

"Sorry, Boy Scout, I assumed you were Chloe." Oliver frowned as the rest of Clark's words caught up with him. What message was he talking about? He didn't remember sending Chloe any explicit texts recently. Things had been quiet at the office so he'd spent most of his time at Watchtower with Chloe the past few days. He wondered if Clark was trying to be funny. If he was, he wasn't very good at it. "What can I do for you, Clark?" he asked.

 

Clark rolled his eyes; apparently Oliver had gone from being openly smug about his weird adventures with Chloe to attempting to play them off like nothing happened. "Please, I got the text, the one about the highlighter? And I really hope you were joking about the drugs..." he said, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

 

"I don't mean to get on your case, but you two do realize that you're in your late twenties right? Well, early thirties for you I guess, but you're supposed to be _adults_ and yet I think you two are more immature then the _actual_ teenagers on the team."

 

"Really?" Oliver bit the word out, his jaw clenching as he glared at the computer screen in front of him, wishing it was Clark instead. It always felt like one step forward and ten steps back with that guy. Every time it seemed like Clark was finally going to take the stick out of his ass and try to be a halfway decent friend, he found a way to go right back to his self-righteous throne. "Is this why you're calling me, Clark? To lecture me about the highlighter incident?"

 

Clark sensed to the shift in Oliver's voice and immediately got defensive. He didn't know why he had to take everything in the wrong way. He was supposed to be the leader, someone people looked up to and yet he was constantly setting a bad example for the team members. Clark didn't mean to always get on his case, but there was a time and place for everything.

 

"I'm not lecturing you, I'm just saying while our phones are still messed up you might want to stop sending out weird messages because it seems like _I_ always get them and really Oliver, don't you think it's about time the two of you left the honeymoon phase? Is this what it's like when people get married?" he asked, tone slightly condescending.

 

That's right, Clark, keep going, Oliver thought. He leaned back in his chair, shifting the phone to his opposite hand. "I'm sorry, Clark, but I'm not sure what our 'honeymoon phase' as you put it has to do with anything. Chloe and I _communicated_ this much before we were married. But you might want to pull back on your condescension since you don't have the facts," he warned.

 

Clark pursed his lips together, crossing one arm over his chest, "Right, I usually don't, then again 90 percent of the time I end up wishing I didn't know them after I'm told." He paused, but just couldn't help himself. "Highlighters? Really? I can't even being to comprehend how something like that would happen..."

 

Oliver smirked. "Ask Lois," he said simply.

 

Clark frowned, his body tensing slightly as he straightened up, "What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped, voice sharper than he intended.

 

"I thought it was pretty self-exclamatory," Oliver replied. His smirk widened at the tension he heard in Clark's voice. "I don't need to text Chloe early in the morning because she's lying in bed next to me. That text was for Lois." Oliver fought the urge to laugh out loud as he waited for _that_ information to sink into Clark's thick skull.

 

Clark paused, his mouth gaping slightly. What the hell was _his_ fiancée doing trying to highlight Oliver's face? Lois thought Oliver was important? His brows furrowed, a mixture of anger and hurt filling his chest.

 

"When was Lois with you? And why the hell was she trying to highlight your face? ...I mean sure...that might sound like something Lois would do...if she were drunk, but why _your_ face...? I don't think you’re all that important," he grumbled, his hand gripping the phone so tightly he was afraid he might snap it in two.

 

"Good to know, man. I really feel the love on that one," Oliver muttered. Sometimes he wondered why Clark had bothered asking him to be his best man when he seemed to have no use for him.

 

Clark glared at Oliver's tone, scoffing lightly. "Oh, don't get all huffy with me. If Chloe was over here highlighting my face and telling me I was important instead of being home with you, you'd throw a tantrum like a five year old and don't even deny it."

 

He jabbed his finger in the air as he spoke, even though Oliver couldn't see it. "Now, tell me why my soon to be wife was with you last night calling you important when she was supposed to be doing wedding stuff with Chloe?"

 

"Calm down, Clark," Oliver replied. "Actually, the thought of Chloe trying to highlight your face is something I'd probably pay good money to see." He snickered at the mental image of Chloe going after Clark with a highlighter. "And Lois was with Chloe last night. She called me to pick them up from the Ace of Clubs," he explained.

 

Clark sighed, and shook his head. Every time Lois went there, she wound up finding trouble or finding someone to drink under the table. She was seriously going to be the death of him. He frowned, brows furrowing as he glanced toward the front door. "Wait a minute...how'd she get home last night then?" he asked.

 

"I drove her," Oliver replied. He balanced the phone between his shoulder and his ear so he could respond to an email from Tess. "Clark, do you have any idea what it's like being in the car with two drunken women for over two hours?" he asked warily. The drive to Smallville had never seemed longer than it had last night.

 

Clark paused, his body relaxing slightly as his friend’s words. He winced, knowing _exactly_ what Lois was like drunk. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah...sorry about that. Lois can be a bit of a handful when she gets drunk." He pursed his lips and let out a small breath. "Why wouldn't you guys just call me? I would have come there and saved you the trip." he asked quietly.

 

Sighing, Oliver rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. He'd gotten caught up in sticking it to Clark and had forgotten there was a reason he'd spent four hours of his night driving instead of sleeping. "You should talk to Lois about that," he said.

 

Clark raised an eyebrow, his jaw clenching. "What is _that_ supposed to mean? What's going on?" Obviously Oliver knew something that he wasn't sharing and that wasn't okay. The double standard pissed him off, because if the situation was reversed and it had something to do with Chloe, Oliver wouldn't stop until he knew what was going on.

 

Oliver sighed again when he heard the anger in his Clark's voice. Lois was going to kick his ass, but she was the one who kept insisting that the two men should bond. "All right, the truth is Lois didn't want me to call you because she was afraid of embarrassing you," he said. "She knows you don't like it when she drinks too much and she felt guilty for letting things get out of hand. Although, to be honest, I think that was Chloe's fault."

 

From the bits and pieces he'd gathered during the car ride from hell, Oliver got the feeling it had been Chloe's idea for Lois to have a few drinks and relax and in true Sullivan-Lane fashion; it had escalated into a competition.

 

Clark's shoulders slumped as he leaned back against the railing again, his chest tightening. Sure when Lois drank, she _drank_ but it wasn’t like she went out and got drunk a lot. He hadn't meant to make her feel self-conscious about enjoying herself. He knew exactly who Lois was when he proposed and he loved that she could drink most men under the table. He loved that she was crazy and outspoken.

 

She was one of the few people who actually brought him out of his shell and he didn't want that to change. He sighed and pushed his glasses up on his face out of habit. "I can't believe she thought she'd embarrass me...I've never once been embarrassed by anything she does. I love her, crazy competitive streak and all." He shook his head. "Maybe I should just stay home today and talk to her..."

 

He frowned, the anger completely gone from his voice. "Thanks Oliver, for bringing her home safe. I appreciate that."

 

"You're welcome," Oliver replied sincerely. "I know you'd do the same for Chloe. Or well, me," he joked.

 

Clark chuckled lightly as he scratched the back of his head, "I would..." he hesitated, "so, sorry about before, with the yelling. Now that I think about it, Lois isn't up yet, so I might just let her sleep it off and talk to her later...she isn't pleasant when woken up." He was silent for a minute, "I guess I should probably let you get back to work?" he asked sheepishly.

 

"Yeah, I've got to get ready for a meeting," Oliver said. He hesitated. "Do you want some advice?" he asked uncertainly. The last thing he wanted was for Clark to think he was trying to tell him what to do, but this was one of the areas he had more expertise than he cared to admit and he knew Clark was probably flying blind.

 

Clark bit the inside of his cheek, not sure he liked the idea of taking advice from Oliver but knowing logically that he probably knew what he was talking about. "I guess..."

 

Oliver heard the hesitation in Clark's voice, but pressed on anyway. "Make sure she has plenty of liquid, water, not coffee and use that speed of yours to go run somewhere that serves burgers at this time of day. The greasier, the better and make sure she takes a few aspirin. I tried to give her some last night, but she threw the bottle at me while Chloe cheered her on."

 

Somehow, they'd decided he was their enemy at that point and he'd had to dodge a lot of flying objects as he dragged Chloe back to the car. "By the way, one of Chloe's shoes is probably on your front lawn," he said.

 

Clark grinned and took a few steps forward, eyes searching the grass and sure enough, there was a heel in the middle of the front lawn. He grinned. "Yeah...I see the shoe." He couldn't help the small laugh that left his throat at the thought of them tossing things at Oliver.

 

"I'll stop by the local diner she likes before I take off for Metropolis. I'll make sure she has water and Tylenol...and I'll drop off Chloe's shoe to you sometime this afternoon." He moved back toward the front door, pushing it open quietly as he walked inside. "And Oliver...thanks."

 

"Anytime," Oliver replied, pointedly deciding to ignore the obvious amusement in Clark's tone. "You can just leave her shoe in my office if I'm not here, I've got meetings most of the day." He knew the shoes were Chloe's favorite and he had no intention of giving it back to her until she apologized for trying to drive it into his skull while shouting about how she wasn't going to let him give her a parasite. He had no idea what she meant by that.

 

Clark nodded as he moved to the fridge, getting a cup of water for Lois as he held the phone between his shoulder and ear. “Will do, thanks again, I’ll talk to you later, Oliver.”

 

Disconnecting the call, Oliver held his phone in his hand for a moment, debating on whether or not he should leave Lois a message to warn her that Clark knew what was going on. He recalled her singing a White Snake song at the top of her lungs while repeatedly kicking his seat as he tried to drive. She was on her own. Oliver slid his phone into his pocket and pulled up the agenda for the meeting on the computer.

 

______

 

"Chloe stealer!" Lois shouted in her sleep. Startled, she jumped up, instantly regretting it when the entire room spun around her. She let her head fall back against the pillow, groaning loudly. It felt like someone was using her head as a base drum.

 

She shifted gingerly, carefully opening one eye and was surprised to see the blinds were closed and the curtains drawn. That was odd. Clark usually opened them when he left for work because he knew how she tended to hit the snooze button repeatedly and only got out of bed when the sunlight hit her.

 

Lois turned to the nightstand to look at the clock and saw that it was just after eleven. She also saw a large glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. "Thank God." It took her a few tries to get the cap off the bottle, but once she did, she dug out four pills and tossed them in her mouth. As she washed them down with water, she had a vague recollection of Oliver standing there trying to get her to take the pills, an unhappy look on his face.

 

She pushed the covers aside and slowly made her way down the hall to the bathroom as more pieces of the night came back to her. Ignoring the light switch, Lois snuck a glance at her reflection in the mirror, wincing when she saw that she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. Most of her makeup was gone or smeared across her face and her hair looked like a bird's nest. Lois was extremely grateful that Clark had been out patrolling when they'd gotten back to the farm and he'd obviously already left for the Planet.

 

Lois brushed her teeth and used half the bottle of mouthwash before she finally stopped tasting alcohol on her tongue. She stripped off her clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor and stepped into the shower, staying under the spray until she started to feel halfway human again.

 

Once she was done, Lois pulled on her robe and started for the stairs wondering if there were any leftovers in the fridge. She had just reached the bottom step when the sound of typing caught her attention. She slowly walked into the living room, surprised to see Clark sitting on the couch with her laptop.

 

"Smallville?" she said uncertainly. Clark glanced up at the sound of her voice, catching the surprise in her eyes before giving her a warm smile. He stood, making his way over to her and reaching out, placing one hand on her hip while the other brushed away a few strays of wet hair from her face.

 

The smell of her shampoo hit his nose and he inhaled deeply, Lois always smelled so good. “Hey, you finally decided to join the land of the living, I see. How are you feeling?”

 

"I'm okay," Lois replied, forcing a smile onto her face. She assumed Clark probably thought she had slept in because she was sick. Guilt churned in her stomach along with the alcohol that was already residing there.

 

He let his palm drop from her face as he took her hand, tugging her gently into the kitchen and motioned towards the counter where the white paper bag was. "I went out and got you a burger from that diner you like in town..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before glancing at her. "I thought maybe it might help..."

 

Her eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Clark and the bag. Lois could smell the burger and she moved closer to the counter, her mouth watering as she found herself suddenly famished. "Thanks, Smallville." She beamed at Clark as she dug into the bag, the grease from the burger already seeping through the bottom of the bag. It took Lois's tired brain a minute to catch up and her smile quickly faded. How did Clark know she had a hangover?

 

He watched as her smile faded and he walked over to join her at the counter. His face softened slightly as he glanced at her. He motioned toward the bag. "Oliver might have given me a few helpful hints...Lois why wouldn't you just call me? Do you really think that anything you do embarrasses me? I love you...all of you. Especially the crazy side,” he said as he sent a hesitant grin her way, not sure how she was going to respond to Oliver having told him.

 

"Oliver Queen is a dead man," Lois replied. She moved away from Clark, her eyes searching the room for a phone. When she didn't see one, she stomped into the living room, catching sight of her purse overturned in front of the door.

 

Lois pulled out her cell phone, ignoring the sudden nausea she felt when she bent over and scrolled through her contacts until she found Oliver's name. Bringing the phone to her ear, she waited impatiently, only to be greeted by the sound of his voicemail. "Do you really think you can hide from me?" she demanded as she listened for the beep.

 

Clark followed quickly behind her, pulling the phone from her hands and frowning. "Lois, stop...I made him tell me and to be honest I'm sort of hurt that you didn't." He sighed, tossing her phone on the couch as he gripped both of her arms while meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you embarrass me, because you don't."

 

He tried for a small smile, his voice softening as he cupped her cheek. "I love you _exactly_ the way you are, the occasional drunken binge and all...that's not something you should hide from me,” he said as hurt crossed his face. "When we get married are you just going to call Oliver every time something like this happens? Because I sort of prefer you didn't."

 

Lois hated seeing the hurt look on his face. She reached up, stroking a hand over his cheek as she pressed her lips against hers. "I'm sorry, Clark. I never meant to hurt you. I just didn't want you to have to clean up my mess _again_." She bit her lip, vulnerability filling her eyes. "I want to be the kind of wife you can be proud of and no one is proud when his wife is too drunk to get herself home."

 

She swallowed hard, fresh shame washing over her as she recalled how out of hand things had gotten. "I had to call Ollie because Chloe punched the bartender and he was going to press charges…" Her voice trailed off.

 

Clark's eyes widened as he shook his head while wrapping his arms tighter around her. "I swear Oliver's ruined her. But as far as you go, I am _always_ proud of you Lois. I have it under good authority that Chloe was the one who made you drink and you know even if she wasn't, it would still be okay." He brushed a thumb against her cheek.

 

"Things have been stressful lately, it's okay for you to blow off some steam, and we all need it, believe it or not, even me," he said quietly, his heart clenching at the look on her face. "There isn't anyone in this world or any other world that would make a better wife for me. You're it Lois. Nothing you ever do or say will change that. _Ever._ " he said resolutely.

 

Lois was surprised she was still standing and hadn't melted into a gooey puddle on the floor. She threw her arms around Clark's neck, hugging him as tightly as she could. "You amaze me, Clark," she said quietly. Her eyes were filled with tears when she pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes. "I love you just the way you are too," she said. "It means a lot that you have so much faith in me even if I don't always deserve it." Chloe might have been the one who started the drinking, but it had been Lois's idea to turn it into a game.

 

"Also, you shouldn't be so hard on Ollie," she said. Lois knew that Clark tended to think the worst about Oliver, but she also knew the two men were a lot closer than either of them would probably admit to. It was like they needed reasons to stay annoyed with one another and she wasn't about to let what Chloe did the night before be the latest one.

 

"The bartender made a comment about that Inquisitor article that hinted Chloe was pregnant and she didn't take it very well. But that's on her, not Ollie. Trust me when I tell you that my cousin has never been a saint. Besides, Ollie makes her happy and keeps her out of jail."

 

Well that definitely sounded like something Chloe would do. She tended to be more sensitive to the tabloids than Oliver was. And Clark was almost positive that Lois had Chloe's back, because that's just the type of person she was and he couldn't fault her for that. It was one of her best qualities.  
  
Clark smirked and nodded, "Fine, no blaming anyone on my end." He rubbed her back lightly as he sent an affectionate gaze her way. "But next time...call me, because Lois, I've always got your back too you know...okay?" he asked softly.

 

"I know," Lois said. She gave him another kiss and then let her head rest against his chest. Even though she still planned to give Oliver a piece of her mind for breaking the pact she very clearly remembered making, Lois was glad that everything was out in the open and that Clark wasn't upset by her behavior.

 

"Next time Chloe and I get into a bar fight, I promise to call you." She lifted her head and met his gaze, amusement dancing in her eyes. "We all know there's going to be a next time," she told him. Clark sighed and nodded eyes warm. "You guys wouldn't be Lane-Sullivan women if there wasn't." He said as a grin broke out on his face.

 

______

 

Chloe groaned as she made her way down the hallway toward the kitchen. She had woken up two hours ago and found the Tylenol and water Oliver had left for her. She downed both before rolling over and promptly going back to sleep. When Chloe had woken up the second time she had dragged herself to the shower, washed off the remnants of last night’s adventures and tossed on a pair of shorts and one of Oliver's T-shirts.  
  
She padded barefoot into the kitchen and went straight to the freezer, pulling it open and rummaging around for one of those soft gel ice packs she knew they kept on hand. When she finally found it, Chloe yanked it out and pushed the freezer closed before moving forward and plopping down on one of the stools.  
  
She glanced down at her hand and winced, that would teach her to go around punching random bartenders, but the guy had been an asshole, he most definitely deserved it. Chloe placed the ice pack over her hand and then laid her head gently on top of it. The pounding in the back of her skull had pretty much subsided but for some reason her entire body felt achy.  
  
Bits and pieces of the night had been returning to her since she got up and with each new memory, she cringed. Her husband was quite literally the best man in the world, though she had no doubt he'd be holding last night over her head for awhile. Chloe let out a long, dramatic sigh before closing her eyes and letting the coolness of the ice pack sink into her hand and head. 

 

Oliver tried to be as quiet as possible as he made his way into the penthouse in case Chloe was still sleeping. He set his keys down on the desk along with his phone and Chloe's shoe that Clark had dropped off for him. He tugged on the knot in his tie as he walked toward the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before he went upstairs to check on his wife.

 

He smiled softly when he saw Chloe sitting at the counter, an ice pack wedged between her head and her hand. Oliver went to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders as he let his thumbs slide over her pressure points, hoping to ease some of her pain.

 

"How's my little fighter this afternoon?" he asked.

 

Chloe tilted her head, giving him a sideways glance, lips pushed together in a pout. "Ha ha, very funny...fine, mock me while I'm in pain, but I still stick with my original assessment. That guy was an ass Ollie, and he deserved to get hit," she said while relaxing slightly at the feel of his hands massaging her back lightly. "Mm, that feels nice."

 

"I do not doubt that, Sidekick," Oliver replied. He pressed a kiss to her lips as he continued massaging her neck. "Although, you never did tell me  _why_  he was an ass,” he pointed out.

 

While he waited for her to answer, he moved the ice pack aside and gently lifted her hand up so he could get a better look at it. There was some bruising around her knuckles, but he didn't think it was broken. 

 

She straightened up, watching Oliver as he examined her hand. She shrugged, her shoulders bunching slightly. "Its fine, I'm sure it'll be better by tomorrow." Chloe's eyes dropped to the table as she bit her bottom lip.  
  
"He brought up that stupid _Inquisitor_ article," she said, her voice trailing off, not wanting to upset Oliver by telling him the reason she’d decked the guy was because he basically accused her of trying to drink away her _"baby."_ Chloe cleared her throat. "It upset me, I lashed out, not a big deal," she stated quietly, brushing the issue off like it was nothing.

 

Oliver arched an eyebrow as he tried to figure out which Inquisitor article she was referring to. The tabloids had had a field day with their marriage and he'd spent a small fortune making as much of the "news" disappear as he could. He knew the articles bothered Chloe more than she let on, but he also knew there had to be something specific that made her physically assault someone.

 

He placed her hand back on the table and slid the ice pack over it. Oliver didn't want to push her when she already wasn't feeling well, but he didn't like that she was upset and not telling him the whole story. Suddenly, he found himself sympathizing with Clark.

 

"What else do you remember from last night?" Oliver asked. He brought one hand back up to her neck while the other massaged her scalp. Her eyes slid shut, the rhythmic movements of his fingers chasing away the last of the throbbing in her head as she leaned back against him. “I remember most of the night I think.” She made a face.

 

“Sorry about throwing things at you…and running away from you…and trying  to mount you while you were driving on the way home…” she said sheepishly as she tilted her head to the side, giving him a tired grin while running a hand up his arm. “I know that couldn’t have been helpful. I’m sorry I was such a handful. You, Mr. Queen, are an amazing husband.”

 

"Hmm, I was wondering if you remembered that last part," Oliver teased. She'd finally stopped yelling at him for kidnapping her about twenty minutes after they'd left the farm. One minute she'd been staring out the window, a scowl on her face, and the next she'd been on top of him, her fingers working his belt while her lips attacked his neck. Oliver had nearly driven off the road.

He brought both hands up to her temples and applied a small amount of pressure as he rubbed her head. "I could have done without the yelling and the throwing. You almost got me with your shoe," he reminded her.

 

Chloe’s eyes popped open as she jerked her head around to face him, wincing slightly at how everything around her spun. She placed a palm flat against his chest, panic in her eyes. “Oh my God, my _shoe_!” She gripped his shirt tightly between her fingers, voice frantic.

 

“Oliver, please tell me you have my shoe…I _love_ those shoes. They are my favorite pair…I might actually get emotional and cry if you don’t have my shoe.” She vaguely remembered trying to beat him over the head with it, but she couldn’t quite remember why.

 

He rolled his eyes at the panic in her voice. "I have your shoe," Oliver assured her. "It's nice to know you have more concern for it than you do _my_ well-being." He placed his hand over hers on his chest. "I mean, you were pretty adamant about me not giving you a parasite. What was that about, Chloe?" he asked.

 

Chloe ignored his comment about her shoes and groaned, pulling her hand out from under his and covering her face with both palms. "Oh _my_ god, I can't believe I said that," she mumbled. She uncovered her face slowly, sending him a pleading look, "Any chance you'll just chalk that up to drunken rambling and let it go?" she asked hopefully.

 

"Well now I won't," Oliver replied. He'd thought the comment was strange at the time, but now he felt like he was missing something. Between her being vague about what the bartender said and her not wanting to explain the remark, Oliver once again found himself feeling like Clark and he didn't like it at all. "Tell me," he said quietly, his voice betraying the hurt he couldn't hide from her.

 

She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes and she reached out with both hands, one going to his side and the other his shoulder. Chloe let out a light sigh, but wouldn't meet his eyes as she spoke. "Remember like a week or so ago when you and Clark might have thought Lois and I were pregnant?" She didn't bother waiting for him to answer and instead spoke quickly. "Well, in the heat of the moment when you two were gone, I might have called our possible future child a..." She paused, wincing at the way this was going to come out, knowing it just didn't sound right. "…parasite..."

 

Oliver opened and closed his mouth a few times, not really sure what to say to that. He'd had his own little panic attack at the idea of a baby, but _that_ particular description had never crossed his mind. At least now some of the inappropriate things Lois had shouted at them out the window made more sense.

 

He took Chloe's hand from his shoulder and set it back on the counter under the ice pack. "You need to keep this on," he told her.

 

"You're upset." She swallowed hard, her chest tightening as she glanced from her hand back to him. "I didn't mean it...I mean I did, but not in the way it sounded." She blew a breath out of her mouth, making her hair fly up slightly. "This is coming out all wrong..." she said softly.

 

"It's pretty hard to take that any other way, Chloe," Oliver replied flatly. He was upset, but he knew he had no reason to be. It wasn't like he was in any hurry to have kids. But he couldn't help feeling insulted that his wife was so disgusted by the idea of having a baby with him that she would refer to it as a parasite on more than one occasion.

 

Not wanting to dwell on it any longer, Oliver forced a smile onto his face. "Have you eaten? I could order something," he offered as he started to move away from her to get the takeout menus.

 

Chloe slid off the stool quickly, ignoring the wave of nausea that filled her from moving so fast. She blocked his path, her hand coming out and pressing against his stomach to stop his movements. Her brows furrowed as she shook her head. "No, you don't get to do that. If you have a problem, then you tell me what it is. You don't get to walk away and pretend the issue doesn't exist. Sorry...that's now how this relationship works."

 

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest as she glared up at him. Her expression softened just slightly. "I admit I could have picked a better term, it isn't exactly endearing, but I didn't mean it in a negative way," she told him quietly.

 

"Fine, Chloe," Oliver said. His jaw twitched as he tried to shove aside the anger that he didn't quite understand. "Explain to me how you didn't mean it in a negative way when you referred to our non-existent baby as a parasite." He mirrored her stance, crossing his arms over his chest and waited to see what she had to say.

 

She opened her mouth and then promptly shut it. Okay, so maybe there had been a slight negative connotation that went along with her statement to Lois, but not because she didn't want to have his baby _eventually_ , mostly just because she didn't want to right _now_. "I was upset and Lois and Tess were going on and on about how you were going to knock me up because we have so much sex and I just freaked out," she said apologetically, her shoulders slumping as she dropped her arms to her sides, glancing up at him with anxious eyes.

 

Oliver nodded. "I guess that also explains why Lois used taking away your birth control as a threat when you were picking on Clark the other day." He offered her a small smile that still didn't quite reach his eyes. "You really should eat something to soak up some of that alcohol, Sidekick." He squeezed her shoulder gently and slipped past her to grab the menus.

 

Chloe stood there, not turning around to follow him as she heard the sound of him looking through the drawer for menus. She didn't know why his words hurt or why he was acting like everything was fine when he was obviously still upset, but she didn't like it.

 

Chloe felt her eyes burning slightly and she swallowed heavily. "I'm not hungry; I think I'll just go back to bed." She turned, walking past him as she wrapped her arms around herself and started to head back toward their bedroom.

 

"Nice going, jackass," Oliver muttered. Closing his eyes, he took a minute to get his head together before following her up the stairs. She had already gotten back into bed and he walked around to her side, kneeling down on the floor so they were at eye level. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you," he said.

 

Chloe's hands were under her head on her pillow as her gaze met his, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. "You tell me to tell you what's going on, I'm honest with you and you can't even be honest with me about what you're feeling. That's a little bit of a double standard don't you think?" she whispered.

 

He swallowed hard, forcing down his natural instinct to get defensive and remind her that he'd had to pull the information out of her. But considering he was doing the same thing, Oliver knew he didn't have a leg to stand on.

 

"Chloe, the truth is I'm not exactly running out to paint the nursery either, but I can't help wondering if it's the idea of having a baby that bothers you or the idea of having one with me," he admitted.

 

Her expression softened as she shifted, reaching out to take his hand. "Ollie..." She paused, trying to find the right words. When they didn't immediately come to her she decided to change tactics. "Do you want to know why I hit the bartender last night?"

 

Oliver squeezed her hand, bringing it to his lips. "You said he was being an ass about one of the articles," he said.

 

She nodded, voice soft. "About the one in the Inquisitor that said I was pregnant. He accused me of trying to drink away our baby. He said that I probably only married you for your money and didn't want to have your kid." Tears welled in her eyes as she continued speaking, anger in her voice not toward Oliver, but the ass from last night.

 

"So I told him in no uncertain terms that it wasn't his business, but if I was pregnant I'd gladly announce it to the world, because there wasn't anyone else I'd ever consider procreating with...and then I leaned over the bar and slugged him in the face."

 

"That's my girl." Oliver closed the distance between them, his lips claiming hers in a possessive kiss."I love you," he whispered against her mouth. He brushed her hair back from her face, his hand lingering on her cheek. "I'm sorry it was an issue in the first place. I'll put in another call to my PR guy," he told her.

 

Chloe cupped his cheek, pressing another kiss to his lips. "I love you too and don't bother. It's fine." She shifted over in the bed making some room for him before patting the mattress next to her. "There's no point. It's already out there and it'll just run its course. I'm tired of getting angry at the lies. If people have a problem, they can come to me..." she said, glancing up at him amusement in her eyes. "And I'll just smack them around until they leave us alone." She smirked.

 

Oliver laughed as he climbed into the bed beside her. He held open his arms to her, waiting for her to snuggle against him so he didn't jar her too much if her stomach was still upset. "I can see the headlines now," he joked. "Green Arrow hires tiny blonde bodyguard."

 

Chloe giggled as she moved closer to him, pressing herself against his body as she molded herself to his frame. Humor colored her tone. "Well, Green Arrow's not the only one who can kick some ass...I've got moves you've never seen..." she replied saucily, hand grazing his chest.

 

"Really?" Oliver grinned as he ran his hand over her bare legs. "I thought we weren't keeping any secrets from each other..."

 

Chloe took one of her legs and hooked it over his, using it to pull him closer as she pressed  her breasts against his chest, hot mouth near his ear. "I might just have one or two left that I was waiting for the right moment to reveal."

 

"I like where this is going," Oliver replied. He slid his hand underneath the t-shirt she wore and caressed her bare back, his eyes darkening with lust as he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. "Show me what you've got, Sidekick."

 

Chloe groaned into his mouth, hands gripping at his body, nails biting into his skin. She used her weight to flip him over so he was on his back. Chloe straddled his hips, rocking her body against him lightly, a flash of mischief in her eyes. "Gladly..." she whispered before dipping her head down and covering his mouth with hers.

 


	12. Grapevine

Lois reached for the Chinese food container on the corner of her desk, irritated when she discovered it was nearly empty. She poked the cold vegetables at the bottom with her chopsticks, decided they were not worth the effort and tossed the container in the garbage can beneath her desk. She glanced around her office, thinking once again that it was much too quiet. As much as she had wanted the promotion, she couldn’t help missing the noise and chaos that came with working in the bullpen.

 

She turned her attention to the computer in front of her. She’d already written her article and she was just waiting for the copy editor to get back to her with his notes. Once she made the revisions, she was free to leave and Lois could not wait to get out of there. The news cycle in Metropolis had been non-existent lately and while she did have a few feelers out for future stories, Lois was at the point where she was just waiting on people to get back to her and she had no choice but to go by their timetables.

 

Her cell phone beeped and she gratefully slid her hand over the screen to read the latest message from Chloe. Her cousin was every bit as bored as she was. Chloe was at Watchtower for the night since Tess had a date with Emil that she thought no one else knew about. Considering the woman was a Luthor, she really should be better at keeping secrets, Lois thought.

 

She scanned the message from Chloe, noting that her cousin had changed the subject now that she was finished telling her about the baby talk her and Oliver had had after their night at Ace of Clubs. Lois was still convinced the two of them were going to be parents before her and Clark even made it down the aisle, but she knew Chloe was still skittish about the topic and she didn’t want to push her. Not yet anyway.

 

Lois tapped her fingers against her phone as she tried to think of something interesting that she hadn’t had a chance to tell Chloe yet. They’d already compared their numbers and she was not happy that Chloe was ahead of her in all categories. She was going to have to tie Clark to the bed or something. Lois paused, wondering how Clark would feel about that. Curious, she typed out a new message to Chloe.

 

 _“I’m thinking about tying Clark to the bed, but I’m concerned there might be another incident like the time I had the whip. Thoughts?”_ She pushed send and headed for the break room to see if there were any maple donuts.

 

______

 

Chloe stood in front of the computer console, staring at it intensely. She lifted her arm and waited, seconds later she swung her arm forward, the sound of a thwack on the screen sounding as a crowd cheered. She grinned, turning slightly as she jerked her arm forward again.

 

It was just after four and Chloe had hit a new level of boredom, so much so that she had actually connected the guys’ Wii system to her main console and decided to give it a try. She was on her second game of tennis and enjoying herself quite profusely, not that she’d ever admit it.

 

She was in the middle of her last hit when the sound of her cell phone vibrating reached her ears. Chloe paused the game and made her way over to her phone. She lifted it up, slid her finger across the screen and smiled when she saw Lois’s name.

 

They had been trading texts for the past hour, doing their best to pass the time. She brought up Lois’s latest message and immediately snorted. She put down the Wii remote and typed out her reply.

 

_“My thoughts are you’re probably going to need some kryptonite laced handcuffs…I can get my hands on those for you if you want…”_

 

Chloe smirked while pushing send and grabbed the remote, going back to her game while she waited for Lois’s reply.

 

______

 

 Lois smirked to herself as she bit into the maple donut she had snagged from one of the interns. She was fairly certain she had probably scared the kid into needing therapy, but if he was going to be in the news business, he needed to learn to grow a thicker skin. She sat down at her desk and noticed she had a new text waiting from Chloe. Sliding her finger across the screen, she took another bite of the donut and nearly choked when she read her cousin’s response.  
      
“Wow, cuz, remind me to go through your closet next time I stop by the penthouse,” Lois muttered. She quickly keyed in a response.  
    

_“I was thinking more along the lines of pleasurable pain, not life and death stuff. I know I tease you and Ollie about your exhibitionism, but I’m starting to worry that you might need an intervention…you don’t use his arrows against him, do you?”_

 

______

 

“Come on! That was horrible!” Chloe yelled at the computer as the Mii’s on the screen bounced up and down celebrating their victory, mocking her with their gleefulness. She glared, opening her mouth to yell at the screen again when her cell phone vibrated. She glared at the computer and pointed3 “I’ll be right back and then I’m going to kick your ass,” she warned.

 

Chloe lifted the phone from the console, sliding her thumb over it and bringing up the new message, chuckling as she read it. Her fingers moved deftly across the small keyboard as she replied.

 

_“Don’t be so dramatic, I meant fragments of kryptonite, nothing serious and no, I don’t use his arrows against him, though we occasionally do it on top of his arrows…I’ve even got a tiny scar to prove it.”_

 

Chloe pushed send, smirk on her lips as she put her phone down and walked back to the middle of the room while glaring at the screen. “All right, Wii…it’s on…”

 

______

 

Lois raised an eyebrow as she read Chloe's text. Well there was something she hadn't known about her cousin. Not that she was judging, she had plenty of her own battle scars from some of her more risqué nights with Clark. Actually, she'd shown most of them to Chloe.

 

She glanced at the computer and didn't see an email from the copy editor yet. Sighing, Lois leaned back in her chair, resting her feet on the desk as she lazily typed a new message.

 

_"Did I ever tell you about the time with the whip cream? Clark forgot the bottle was in the bed and after we passed out, he heard someone calling for help and he ended up hitting me over the head with it in his sleep. That was pleasant."_

 

She pushed send and waited for her cousin to laugh at her.

 

______

 

Chloe let out a frustrated growl, scowling at the screen, "Oh, shut up you stupid Mii's...you cheat!" She pressed the button, turning off the game as she grabbed her vibrating phone and walked over to her desk. Chloe kicked off her heels, plopped down in her chair and lifted her legs up on the desk as she opened the message on her phone. Chloe snorted lightly, laughter falling from her throat.

 

She couldn't picture Clark with whip cream, but she could, however, picture him being awkward and hitting Lois with it in his sleep. A smile slid onto her face as she typed out her reply.

 

_"You're fiancé is slightly retarded...then again I guess that means you two go perfect. Did I ever tell you that Oliver talks in his sleep? One night after some fairly acrobatic sex, he fell asleep before me and in his sleep…"_

 

Chloe pushed send, her phone telling her she had reached her limits on characters, and then she started typing the rest of her sentence before pushing send again. She leaned back, eyes closing as she waited.

 

______

 

Oliver leaned against the wall, trying to keep his expression neutral as he watched Clark squirming under the tailor’s watchful eye. They had been in the store for nearly an hour and Oliver was pretty sure he was going to have to pay the guy three times his normal amount just to make up for all the suffering Clark had put him through. It had taken every ounce of Oliver’s self-control not to burst out laughing when the poor man had taken Clark’s measurements.  
    

“You’re all set, Mr. Kent,” Roger said as he made a few notes on his clipboard. Giving Clark a brisk nod, he turned to Oliver. “Mr. Queen, I’ll call you when we need to schedule the next fitting.” He gave Oliver a wary look before making his way toward the back of the store, mumbling to himself.  
      
Pushing himself off the wall, Oliver waited for Clark to put his jacket on so they could get out of there and cross one more thing off the wedding list. But the other man stood rooted in the center of the room, a frown on his face. “Problem?” he asked.

 

Clark glanced up and shook his head. They had been in the in the shop for a least an hour and he was getting antsy, it was definitely time to head out. Hopefully they didn't have much more to do after this. “No, everything’s fine…I thought I heard my cell phone vibrating, have you seen it?” he asked as he lifted his jacket from the chair and glanced around the room, brows furrowed.

 

"Yeah, it's on the table," Oliver replied. He gestured toward the small coffee table in the sitting area. When they had first arrived, Roger had shown them the different options for tuxedos and Clark's eyes had immediately glazed over. It was no wonder he'd forgotten his phone.

 

He gave Oliver a sheepish look. "Thanks." Clark walked over lifted it off the table pushing one of the buttons and grinning when he saw one new message waiting there from Lois. He ran his finger over the screen as his eyes glanced over the message. Clark frowned and re-read it.

 

_"He called me juicy booty!"_

Who had called her juicy booty? And why was she telling him about it?

 

Oliver frowned at the look on Clark's face. He'd gone from confused to angry in a matter of seconds. That couldn't be a good sign. He wondered whose message Clark had gotten this time. "Who texted you?" he asked warily.

 

He glanced at Oliver. "Lois..." He closed the distance between him and Oliver and showed his friend the text, before eyeing him warily. "You haven't been texting my fiancée, have you?" he asked, tone neutral, not wanting to accuse him, but thinking that this definitely sounded like something Oliver would say.

 

"Really?" Oliver snapped. He glared at Clark, gesturing between the two of them. "Do you see me standing right here beside you? I'm not a figment of your imagination, Clark. When would I have had time to text Lois?" he demanded.

 

Clark sighed and held up his hands. "Relax, it was just a question; it's not like the two of you don't text," he said, exasperation in his voice. "I wasn't accusing, I was asking..." He paused, face scrunching up slightly. "Then, who the hell is telling my fiancée that she has a juicy booty?" He glared at the phone in his hand, tempted to use his heat vision on it.

 

Oliver took a step back. He'd seen lasers shoot out of Clark's eyes before and he would prefer not to be in the crossfire. But he couldn't blame Clark for being upset. Oliver certainly wouldn't like it if someone was making those kinds of comments about Chloe. He scowled at the thought. "All right, let's take a step back and try to figure this out," he suggested.

 

Clark pursed his lips. He wasn't sure what upset him more, the fact that some random guy felt like he could talk to Lois that way, or that fact that she obviously thought he wouldn't care since she sent the message to him. "Take a step back? I don't think so...you have to know something to take a step back and all I know is that apparently Lois has finally lost her mind.”

 

"Clark, don't overreact," Oliver warned. He held up his hands, hoping that his friend wouldn't turn the heat vision on him. "I'm sure Lois hasn't lost her mind nor would she appreciate you saying she did after that talk you guys had about honesty," he pointed out.

 

Clark turned his glare on Oliver. "Really? You're not helping. Try to put yourself in my shoes. How would you be reacting right now? I mean honestly." He let out a long sigh, attempting to calm himself down. "Who do you think said it? Do you think this is some kind of...hint?" he asked, a hint of panic in his voice at the thought that maybe he wasn't paying enough attention to Lois.

 

"Of course it wasn't a hint," Oliver replied. He rolled his eyes at the ridiculous thought. "Lois loves you more than anything. Besides, she's Lois. If she had an issue with you, she would have told you. As for who said it, who knows? Does it really matter?" he asked.

 

"Yes it matters," Clark snapped while scowling.  "Lois hasn't exactly been an open book lately. She's had a lot going on. And I know she loves me, but maybe this is some kind of hint letting me know I haven't been paying enough attention to her...or I've been too busy."

 

His eyes widened as he turned to Oliver "What if I've been neglecting her and I don't even realize it? She'll think she's not important enough to me...she'll cancel the wedding!" Blind panic had shot through Clark and now that his mind was running amuck, he couldn't seem to stop one bad thought from piling onto the next.

 

Oliver’s mouth fell open as Clark went into panic mode before his eyes. There were so many ridiculous statements coming out of his friend’s mouth that he didn’t know where to start. Oliver had no idea being Clark’s best man included talking him off the ledge. It was moments like this he wished the man wasn’t made of steel so he could slap him upside the head for being an overdramatic idiot.  
    

“One crazy at a time,” he said. “Lois has always played her cards close to the vest, but blind people can see how much she loves you. She knows you would never neglect her and let’s face it, as slow as things have been lately, you’ve probably been spending more time with her than you normally would so your logic is flawed.”

 

Clark paused, turning slowly toward Oliver, "You think so?" he asked uncertainly. He knew Lois loved him, but sometimes he wondered if maybe he was being selfish wanting to marry Lois and spend his life with her when he was always running off to save the day. He worried that eventually he'd disappear one too many times and she'd be so fed up that she'd take off and leave him. Clark swallowed heavily as his chest constricted at the mere thought of not having Lois in his life.

 

"Lois and I have been friends for a long time," Oliver reminded him. "She's happy, Clark. That's why she's going overboard with all this wedding stuff. She wants everyone to see just how happy you make her."

 

 He let out a long breath, his hands unclenching as he tried to erase all the negative thoughts in his head. Clark nodded. "You're right...I know you're right. I just, I wonder sometimes if I'm being fair. I look at the future and I see barbeques and birthdays and anniversaries that I might have to miss...and I already feel guilty about it."

 

He met the other man's eyes. "Do you think about stuff like that? I mean as much as I get on your case about you and Chloe...you guys seem like you balance things pretty well." He hesitated. "Is it hard?" he asked softly.

 

"I never gave much thought to the future before," Oliver admitted. He took a seat on the couch, absently dragging a hand through his hair as he considered his friend's questions. "I've always taken a lot of risks doing what I do and I've been reckless in the past, but now it's not just about me, you know?" He glanced up at Clark before he continued.

 

"When Chloe was gone for all those months, I was dead inside. Each day was just a routine and half the time, I don't even remember what I did or who I talked to. But once she came back..." His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard. "...once she came back, the balancing part was simple compared to the hell we'd been through."

 

Clark's expression softened as he moved and sat next to Oliver, giving him an awkward pat on the back. "Yeah, I can't imagine how hard that must have been..." He pursed his lips. He knew Oliver had been hurting, but he doubted the other man had actually let on how hurt he was.

 

 "I'm sorry you had to go through that." He tilted his head, giving Oliver a small smile. "But it all worked out for the better right? Chloe's back and honestly...I've never seen her happier."

 

Oliver gave him a grateful smile. He hadn't meant to drudge up bad memories, but he knew that his relationship with Chloe was stronger than ever because of all the hell they had gone through. "Thanks, man," he said. "My point is that the bad stuff is always going to be out there, but you can't put your life on hold because of it. Lois understands what you do and she wouldn't have it any other way."

 

Clark smiled as he thought about Oliver's words. "You're right...I was being, well, kind of crazy. Lois loves all parts of me. I shouldn't question that," he said before blowing out a light breath and shaking his head. "Sorry...I guess I have a few more pre-wedding jitters than I thought. Can we not mention my little freak out to Lois?" he asked hopefully.

 

"It'll be our secret," Oliver assured him. He patted Clark on the back and rose to his feet. "But if you're still upset about the text, Chloe's at Watchtower. She was probably the intended recipient and I can see if she can be persuaded to share," he offered with a slight smirk.

 

Clark grinned as he followed Oliver's lead and stood. "That would be very much appreciated," he said before chuckling and motioning towards the door. "Should we head out?"

 

"Let's go," Oliver replied. He wasn't really concerned about the text message. There was probably a reasonable explanation that would pacify Clark. But it was a good excuse to go see Chloe since he was suddenly missing his wife.

 

______

 

The chairs were pushed to the side of the room and Chloe was down to her blouse and skirt, her heels and jacket having been discarded earlier. She held her fists up in front of her and slammed them forward before bringing them back into her body and getting into a fighter’s stance. She had texted Lois over thirty-five minutes ago and her cousin still hadn’t gotten back to her.

 

After fifteen minutes of waiting, Chloe had decided to give the Wii another chance. She’d bowled for two rounds, played golf for one round and was currently on her fourth round of boxing. She was slightly hot from all the moving around and had unbuttoned the first three buttons on her shirt after winning the last round. A light sheen of sweat marred her brows as she jabbed at the screen.

 

It was surprisingly therapeutic and maybe even a little fun. It was okay for the Mii to gloat when it was her Mii. She smirked as she completed her latest round, her opponent dropping to the ground as the bells dinged declaring her the winner. “That’s right, I own you…” she said smugly as she glanced at the screen.

 

Oliver pushed open the double doors of Watchtower, coming to a dead stop almost immediately when he saw his wife. His eyes widened at her current state of dress, the smug expression on her face and the light sweat making her skin glow. "You know if I didn't know better, I'd think I just interrupted something," he teased.

 

Chloe whirled around, automatically hiding the remote behind her back, eyes widening at the sight of Oliver as a single curl fell slightly over her eye. She blew it away, her gaze shifting to Clark quickly before moving back to Oliver. "I wasn't doing anything..." she said quickly.

 

"Sure, you weren't," Oliver replied knowingly. He crossed the room to her and wrapped his arms around her, his hand closing over the remote in hers. "You must be really bored if you're breaking out the sports' games." He leaned down, pressing his mouth firmly to hers as his arms instinctively tightened around her, pulling her body flush against his.

 

She returned the kiss before tilting her head back and glancing up at him. "I might be a little bored." She let him take the remote and moved her arms around his neck while grinning. "But now you're here and you can entertain me," she said cheekily before pushing herself up on her tiptoes and capturing his lips in a soft kiss.

 

Oliver didn't hesitate to return the kiss. He lifted her slightly off her feet as his tongue slipped past her lips to tangle with hers.

 

Clark stood by the door and sighed, shaking his head. Every single time they saw each other he swore they acted like they hadn't seen each other in days. It was a little ridiculous, though it was possible they were sort of cute, that is when they didn't forget other people were in the room. He cleared his throat lightly. "Uh guys..."

 

The sound of Clark's voice reminded Oliver that he and Chloe were not alone, which was probably a good thing since he'd been about two seconds away from hiking her skirt up. He set Chloe back on her feet, but kept his arms around her as he glanced at Clark over his shoulder. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

 

Clark shrugged, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he walked further into the room and off to the side, leaning against Chloe's desk. "It's okay...I'm used to it." He glanced at Chloe and smiled. "Hey, Chlo."

 

She leaned into Oliver, but lifted a hand and waved slightly. "Hey Clark, how was suit shopping?" Clark groaned and she chuckled, her gaze shifting towards Oliver. "That bad, huh?"

 

"It was a long hour," Oliver admitted. He sent an amused smile in Clark's direction. "Boy Scout here is not good at standing still," he joked.

 

Clark grumbled as Chloe laughed. She could have told Oliver that. She moved out of his arms and walked towards the console, turning of the game as she spoke over her shoulder. "So what are you boys doing here? Finish up for the day?" she inquired.

 

"Yeah, we're all set with the suits, but Clark has something else he wanted to run by you," Oliver said. He nodded at Clark, gesturing with his hand for him to get on with it.

 

Clark looked at Oliver and made a face before he turned to Chloe and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, I was wondering..." He paused. "I got this text message from Lois...do you know who called her…" He winced. "…juicy booty?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly. Chloe blinked, confusion on her face.

 

"You said you got that message from Lois?" He nodded. She glanced between the men in front of her before a bubble of laughter was pulled from her throat and she doubled over, shaking with laughter. "Oh _my_ god..." She shook her head, not able to believe that the phone problem had actually gotten worse.

 

Oliver exchanged a confused glance with Clark before turning his attention back to his laughing wife. He wasn't sure what he'd expected her to say about the message, but he didn't understand what was so funny. He opened his mouth to ask her, but before he could, the doors flew open again and Lois breezed into the room.

 

"Chlo, guess who got sprung?" Her smile widened when she caught sight of Clark and Oliver. "Hey guys, how was the suit shopping? And what is so funny?" she added when she saw Chloe doubled over.

 

Chloe glanced up at Lois, her laughter finally dying down. She pointed to her cousin, glad she was going to be there for this one, "Oh my god, Lo, you remember that conversation we were having earlier?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

 

"Which one?" Lois asked. They'd had a lot of conversations in the past few hours and most of them were pretty funny. She walked over to Clark and gave him a light kiss. "Hi honey."

 

He grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist, "Hi," he said softly as he rubbed his arm up and down her back. Chloe smiled at them before speaking. "The last one. Well, I sent you a reply a long time ago and I was wondering why you never got back to me." She pointed to Clark. "And it turns out your fiancé got my message."

 

Clark looked away from Lois, confused. "But the message I got said it was from Lois..." Chloe shook her head. “The phones were wrong; it was _to_ Lois." Clark's eyes widened slightly and he let out a relieved sigh. "Oh thank god." He pulled the brunette at his side into a tight hug. "That makes me feel so much better," he said softly.

 

"Wait a minute," Oliver broke in. "Someone said that to you? Was it Bart?" he demanded. His jaw twitched as he thought about the long talk he'd had with the kid about hitting on his wife. His flirting hadn't been cute before they were married, but now it was the kind of thing liable to get an arrow stuck in one's ass if he kept it up. "When did this happen and why didn't you tell me?" he asked. Clark's earlier words came back to him and Oliver was sorry he'd told Clark he was overreacting to the message.

 

Chloe bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the anger in her husband’s eyes as she spoke. "Oliver calm down."

 

"I am calm," Oliver replied. He didn't like the fact that she was trying not to laugh, but at least she was trying. He glared at Lois as she practically cackled. "What the hell, Lois?" he demanded.

 

Lois only laughed harder, not the slightest bit intimidated by him. "That was the other half of your message?" she asked her cousin. Her upper body shook, tears welling up in her eyes. "That's perfect, cuz."

 

Chloe couldn't help it; the sound of Lois's laughter triggered her own. She chuckled as she moved over to Oliver, one of her hands sliding up his chest. "Ollie...you want to know who said that?" she asked, humor dancing in her eyes.

 

"Yes, I'd like to know who is hitting on my wife and why my so-called friend is so amused by it," Oliver grumbled. He sent another glare in Lois's direction which only made her laugh harder.

 

Chloe reached up, hand gripping his face lightly as she turned his head back in her direction. She smirked. "You," she told him as she gripped his side, moving closer to his body.

 

Oliver blinked, convinced he heard her wrong. "Me?" he repeated.

 

She nodded, tilting her head to the side, "Afraid so..." She leaned into him as she spoke. "I was telling Lois how you were talking in your sleep one night and said something about my juicy booty..." She laughed lightly before covering her mouth.

 

"Sorry...I just...your face right now." She broke off into another fit of giggles. "I wish you could see it." She calmed down a minute later and bit her bottom lip. "I'm not going to have to worry about you beating your subconscious self up for this am I?"

 

"I don't know, Chlo," Lois drawled. She smirked at Oliver. "Maybe you should hide his arrows so he doesn't accidentally stab himself defending your honor." She laughed at her own joke, burying her face in Clark's shoulder.

 

"Very funny," Oliver snapped. His eyes met Chloe's again and his expression softened. "Fine, laugh at your husband." He wrapped his arms around her and let his hand drift down over her ass, squeezing her supple flesh. "But can you blame me for being territorial, Sidekick?"

 

Chloe groaned lightly, her voice hitching as she gripped his cheeks. "Not at all, Hero." She leaned up, pressing her lips lightly against his. She broke the kiss but didn't move away from him as she cocked her head to the side, glancing at Lois and Clark briefly before her gaze went back to Oliver, eyes dropping to his lips. "I think it's time for you guys to head home..." she said as she not so subtly kicked them out of Watchtower.

 

"That's fine," Lois said. She reached for Clark's hand and tugged him in the direction of the door. "We have things to do at the farm anyway." She glanced at her fiancé. "How do you feel about ropes?" she asked casually.

 

Clark arched an eyebrow as he let her lead him out the door. "Ropes? What kind of ropes? Did we run out of them at the farm?" His voice trailed off and Chloe chuckled at his question as they disappeared down the hallway toward the elevator. She glanced back at Oliver and sighed lightly, her face softening. "Hey..."

 

"Hey you." Oliver smiled softly at her, bringing his hand up to stroke her face. "Sorry about that. I think Clark's paranoia is rubbing off on me. Damn Lois and her bonding," he joked.

 

She grinned. "Aw, bonding...and It’s okay. It's possible I find the fact that you're territorial kind of sexy," She waggled her eyes as she pressed her chest against his.

 

"Glad to hear it," Oliver replied. He kissed her softly, before pulling back and arching an eyebrow. "What else have I said in my sleep?" he asked.

 

Chloe smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know?" She pushed away from him, turning around and heading for her desk. "To bad I'm not telling," she said playfully.

 

"Oh, we'll see about that." Oliver moved behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist to pull her back against him while the other slipped into her shirt. He cupped her breast in his hand, kneading her lightly as his mouth dropped to her ear. "I can be very persuasive," he told her.

 

She moaned; her head falling back against him as her pulse quickened. She arched her body forward slightly, pushing her breast harder against his hand as she ran a tongue across her bottom lip. "I bet you can be...but I'm pretty hard to crack," she said in a breathy voice, an ache building low in her belly as arousal coursed through her.

 

"I've got time." Oliver's lips trailed over her neck while he pushed the cup of her bra aside and pinched her nipple between his fingers. "I intend to be very thorough and discover all your secrets." He let his other hand dip between her legs, rubbing against her core.

 

She gasped, a wave of moisture pooling between her thighs as his fingers caressed her through her panties. “Ollie…” Her breath hitched as he rolled her nipple between his fingers, her hand flying to the arm that was wrapped around her from behind, nails digging into his skin as she spoke between labored breaths. “You might have to search a little _deeper_ if you’re…hoping to find anything worthwhile,” she moaned.

 

"I'm up for the challenge," Oliver said. He pressed himself tighter against her, pinning her between his body and the desk so she could feel his growing hardness. He slipped his hand into the waistband of her panties and lightly stroked her. "Just tell me how deep you want me," he whispered, sucking lightly on her earlobe.

 

"As deep as you can go," Chloe groaned out as she wound an arm around his neck, attempting to leverage herself higher. The light touch of his fingers against her bare skin drove her crazy as she shifted her hips forward, attempting to increase the pressure of his hand between her legs.

 

Oliver groaned as he felt her warm moisture dampening his fingers. He slowly slid two fingers inside of her just as the double doors opened again and Tess walked in, her heels clicking loudly across the floor. She caught sight of the couple and rolled her eyes. "Don't you two have somewhere else you can do that?" she asked.

 

Chloe shut her eyes and whimpered slightly, hands gripping Oliver's forearms, attempting to control her breathing.  She muttered, leaning her head forward against her husband’s chest. "I hate my life..."

 


	13. Confessions

It was another slow night.  
   

Tess sat behind the desk at Watchtower, the latest mockups for the Planet spread out in front of her. She rolled her eyes at Kat’s latest article landing on the front page, but there was nothing else newsworthy enough to bump it. She supposed she had to give her this one since the article was well-written for a change and she hadn’t turned it in with a container of cookies or stickers in the margins. She made some notes for the managing editor and put the mockups aside.  
    

She glanced at the clock. It was just after one a.m. It was Clark’s night to patrol so unless there was a world-ending catastrophe on the horizon; Tess doubted she would be hearing from him or anyone else. She figured she might as well head back to the apartment she’d been living in since the Luthor mansion had been reduced to rubble and try and get a decent night’s sleep.   


Logging out of her laptop, Tess slipped the computer into her bag along with the mockups and some Luthor Corp. files she’d been reading earlier. She was about to check Watchtower’s main system one more time to make sure there was nothing out there that Clark had missed when her cell phone beeped. She plucked it from her purse, frowning when she saw Bart’s name on the caller ID.   
    

 _“This is a mass text. Does anyone know where I am?”_  
    

Tess rolled her eyes. He was probably drunk and had run off somewhere. Sighing, she went to the computer and brought up the GPS database. She sent out a ping for his phone, tapping her fingers impatiently against the console as she waited for the location. She was going to have to call Clark and ask him to extract Bart from wherever he was. A small smile played on her face. She knew Clark was still mad about the peacock incident so she could only imagine how he would make Bart suffer for this.

 

Her smile disappeared when the computer told her the GPS had been disabled. She switched to the satellite feed and attempted to locate Bart that way. Once again, the computer told her that he was off the grid. She glanced down at her cell phone and reread the message. It was supposed to be a mass text. Tess pulled up the database that logged all the phone messages and scrolled to the end. Her phone was the only one who received Bart’s message.  
    

“Damnit,” Tess muttered. They’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop and now it looked like it finally had. If Bart was in trouble, he really could be anywhere and she was going to need all the help she could get to find him. Ignoring her phone, she used Watchtower’s secure system to send a message to all the team members’ phones.  
    

_“We may have a big problem. I need everyone at Watchtower now.”_

______

Chloe’s hands slid up Oliver’s naked back, fingers tracing the contours of the muscles that shifted with each movement he made above her. He had just gotten home from a guys’ night outing with Carter, AC, and Victor about fifteen minutes ago and the first thing he’d done was wake her up, not that she minded in the least considering how he’d woke her up.

 

She moaned, arching her body off the bed just slightly, shifting her legs apart, pulling his body closer to hers as she leaned up, and pressing a heated kiss against his lips.

 

Oliver coaxed her mouth open, deepening the kiss as his tongue swept over hers. He'd had a decent time with the guys, but he'd spent most of the night thinking about Chloe. He'd had to go out of town for a few days on Queen Industries' business and all he'd thought about was how much he missed her.

 

Oliver's hands found the hem of the t-shirt she wore and tugged it upward, breaking the kiss long enough to pull it over her head. His eyes darkened with lust as they roamed appreciatively over her curves. His mouth found hers again, his hips grinding against hers as she arched into him.

 

They broke apart, her breathing labored. "God, I missed you," she moaned in between kisses as her hand slid down his body to the waistband of his boxers. He'd discarded his pants long before getting into bed, she assumed, as her palm dipped down, moving over the bulge in the front of them.

 

"Maybe we should just skip the foreplay, Romeo," she whispered. "Do you know how bad I want you?" she asked huskily as she gripped the back of his neck, bringing his head down to hers, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth.

 

Oliver's hips bucked as her small palm moved over him. "I missed you too," he said as he gripped the sides of her panties. Impatient, he simply ripped the lacy fabric from her body, tossing the scraps out of his way.

 

The snap of the fabric against her skin made her even hotter and she didn't bother pulling his boxers down, she just slid her hand inside the small hole, gripping him in her palm. Chloe stroked him lightly as she hooked a leg over his hip, using it to tug him closer to her body, trapping her hand between them. She had just captured his lips with hers again when her phone vibrated on the bedside table.

 

Oliver was too focused on how good Chloe's hand felt wrapped around him to notice anything else. Moaning into her mouth, he shifted, bringing his cock closer to her wet heat. His brain vaguely registered a buzzing sound coming from the nightstand and a loud beeping noise coming from the floor. "What the hell is that?" he panted.

 

She groaned, frustration building inside of her as she turned her head, glaring at the nightstand. "The god damn phones," she snapped. She was getting sick and tired of everyone interrupting them and the worst part was they were _finally_ in the privacy of their own home and yet they were _still_ being interrupted.

 

Oliver swore loudly, reluctantly moving off Chloe to reach for his discarded pants. "The world better be ending," he muttered darkly as he pulled out his phone, angrily sliding his finger across the screen to see what Tess had to say.

 

While he looked at his phone, Chloe reached over to the bedside table and grabbed her cell, swiping her thumb over it when she saw Tess’s name. She frowned when she read the message, bringing her hand up and pinching the bridge of her nose. “You realize this means we’re going to have to head over to Watchtower, right?” she asked, annoyance coloring her tone.

 

Oliver was already pulling his pants back on. "Yeah," he muttered. He zipped his pants and glanced over his shoulder at his wife. "The world couldn't have waited another hour to fall apart?"

 

Chloe sighed as she lifted her shirt off the bed, tossing it back on as she got up and snorted. "I would have settled for twenty minutes..." she mumbled while letting out a short breath. She moved to the dresser, opening the drawer and grabbing a pair of pants as she spoke over her shoulder. "I'm not putting on another pair of panties; I fully intend to pick up exactly where we left off when we get home.”

 

Groaning, Oliver went to the closet and grabbed a shirt. He was tempted to let the others handle whatever the problem was, but given how quiet everything had been lately, Oliver knew Tess would not be texting the entire team unless something was seriously wrong. He held out his hand to Chloe. "We should probably hurry," he said.

 

She nodded before wrapping her arm around his and taking his hand. "I think my sneakers are in the hallway closet, and yes hurrying is good. The sooner we get there the sooner we can come back home," she said as she motioned for him to lead the way.

 

"I love your one track mind, Sidekick," Oliver teased. He pressed a kiss to her temple as they made their way out of the bedroom.

 

Chloe sent a playful glare in his direction. "Hey, I'm all for fighting the good fight, but I'm pretty sure if the world was ending she would have called. Not that this isn't important, I'm sure it is." She paused at the closet, pulling open the door and slipping her sneakers onto her feet.

 

"Which I might add is why we aren't still in bed..." Chloe turned in his direction, arching her eyebrow, a smirk slipping onto her lips. "And you, Mr. Queen, shouldn't tease your wife or else I'll have to spend a little quality time with the bath jets instead of you when we get back," she said as she leaned near the elevator, waiting for him.

 

"Empty threats," Oliver replied. He grinned as he wrapped both arms around her as they stepped into the elevator. "We both know you prefer my hands on you...and my tongue." He licked the sensitive spot under her ear. "You also know I will always deliver."

 

Chloe tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck and pouted. "Mean...stop starting things you can't finish. It's annoying," she grumbled as the elevator doors slid shut and she leaned back against him while the elevator descended.

 

"Oh, I'll finish," Oliver assured her. He continued kissing her neck. "You just have to be patient. We might need to save the world first."

 

Chloe let out a mixture between a moan and a sigh as the elevator chimed, "Patience has never been my strong suit, but since I don't want the world ending any time soon, you're right, play time will have to wait." She pulled away from him, walking out of the elevator and threw a grin over her shoulder. "Well, come on, Hero...we've apparently got a world to save."

 

Oliver pulled the keys to his black sports car out of his pocket and hit the button to unlock the doors. He slid behind the wheel, reaching for his seatbelt as he waited for Chloe to get in and fasten hers. "Any guesses?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking spot.

 

She shook her head, frowning slightly as she pulled out her phone, scrolling through it. "No, I mean everything's been really quiet lately and I've been monitoring things from home and checking in on the system updates daily and there haven’t been anything out of the ordinary." Chloe shrugged as she wondered if it was possible that she'd missed or overlooked something. "So, I've got no clue what it could be," she said, a hint of worry in her voice.

 

Oliver steered the car out of the garage, hitting the button to close the door behind them as he turned onto the main street. There was no traffic and he pressed down hard on the accelerator as he reached for Chloe's hand. "Don't worry, Sidekick. Whatever is out there, we'll handle it together like we do everything else," he said.

 

Chloe gave his hand a squeeze, leaning over and resting her chin on his shoulder. "I know, it's not that, I..." she hesitated. "I just can't help but think maybe I've been too distracted lately and I missed something I should have picked up on," she said softly.

 

He glanced at her sideways as he turned on the street that would lead to the Watchtower. "Chloe, you've spent more time going over the grids and the satellite feeds than anyone. We've still been out there every night even when there was nothing going on," Oliver pointed out. "You didn't miss anything," he said confidently. He didn't doubt that for a second.

 

"You're biased," she said quietly as she shifted away from him, glancing out the window at Watchtower in the distance. "I'm serious Ollie, maybe it's time I went back to my regular hours at Watchtower." Chloe sighed as she relaxed her body into the leather of the seat.

 

"Chloe." Oliver slowed down for a red light and shifted slightly to face her. "You're my wife and I love you, but I am not biased when it comes to the team. If I thought for one second that you weren't doing enough at Watchtower, I would tell you." He held her gaze, wanting her to see how serious he was. "If you do decide to go back to being Watchtower, I want you to do it because it's what you want, not something you feel you have to do."

 

Her face softened slightly as she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," Chloe whispered. "I appreciate that. I'm sorry for saying you were biased...I know you better than that." She sent him a small smile before shaking her head, unconsciously resting her hand on his arm as he started driving again. 

 

"You know, it's late, I think I'm just in a weird mood tonight. I'm sure everything is fine and even if it isn't we'll figure it out, we always do," she stated.

 

Oliver squeezed her hand before bringing the car to a stop in front of the Watchtower. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips. "Let's go do the hero thing," he said. As they got out of the car, there was a flash of light and Courtney and Mia appeared on the sidewalk in front of them. Courtney placed the glowing staff back inside her coat, her eyes wide as she looked at the couple. "What's going on?"

 

Chloe smiled at the teenagers reassuringly as she took Oliver’s arm and nudged them forward up the walkway. “I’m not sure, but the quicker we all get inside, the sooner we’ll find out.” Her eyes drifted over to Mia and she arched an eyebrow, amusement on her face. “Are those your pajamas?” The teen glanced down and scrunched her nose.

 

“It’s after one a clock in the morning…I was in bed when the text came. Besides, you’re not exactly in your power suit,” she said playfully as she smirked. Chloe glanced down at her t-shirt and yoga pants, chuckling lightly. “You’ve got me there.”

                             

They made their way into the building and toward the elevator. Mia leaned out, pushing the button and when the doors slid open, the four of them piled inside each indentifying themselves and pressing in their unique codes before the elevator jerked to a start.

 

Oliver could hear raised voices before the doors opened a few seconds later. He exchanged a glance with Chloe as he pushed open the double doors. Tess stood at the main computer console typing furiously as Clark paced back and forth behind her. Carter was near the window in his full gear while Lois sat behind the desk wearing Clark's football jersey as she stifled a yawn. She glanced in their direction and offered a half-hearted wave.

 

"It's about time you guys got here," she said. "Maybe now Tess will tell us what's going on." Lois glared at the back of her head.

 

Tess let out an exasperated sigh, but didn't turn away from the computer. "I told you that it would be easier to wait for everyone to get here," she reminded her. Chloe glanced around the room, arching an eyebrow. It seemed like everyone else was just as annoyed as she had been at being interrupted. “Well, it looks like most of us are here.”

 

She glanced around the room her brows furrowing. “Where are Victor and Bart?” she asked curiously.  "Victor is on his way and Bart is the reason we're here," Tess replied. She finally turned away from the computer to face the group. "I received a text earlier and thanks to our flawed system, I think it was supposed to go to everyone." She pressed a button on the console and Bart's message flashed on all the screens.

 

Carter crossed his arms over his chest as he glanced at the screen. This was the reason he'd been dragged out of bed? Because the speed demon didn't know where he was? Carter let out a loud grunt. "We're here because the speed demon can't find his way home...really?" he asked incredulously.

 

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Big Bird." Oliver crossed his arms over his chest and eyed Tess warily. "Why didn't you just call Boy Scout and ask him to hunt down Bart? He's probably drunk."

 

Clark sent a glare toward Oliver from his seat against the front of Chloe's desk. "Why am I always the one who needs to run around looking for Bart? Besides...I'm still angry about the feathers. I'm sure he can find his own way home," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest petulantly.

 

Courtney stepped forward. "Do you really think Bart is in trouble?" she asked nervously. Carter pinched the bridge of his nose. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Chloe cut him off.

 

"Guys, why don't we defer to Tess for now and give her a chance to tell us what happened and then we can figure out what did and didn't happen based on the facts, okay?" she said as she glanced around the room before turning her gaze on the redhead. "So...Bart doesn't know where he is?" she inquired.

 

Tess rolled her eyes. "Like the rest of you, I assumed Bart was just drunk and confused too," she said. "But then I tried to get a lock on his GPS and he's off the grid. I couldn't pinpoint his location with the satellite either."

 

Chloe frowned and walked over toward the main console where Tess was standing. She slid the keyboard away from the other woman mumbling _'let me try something'_ before typing in several codes and scowling when none of them worked. She turned and glanced around the room just as Victor made his way through the double doors, coming to a halt once inside. Chloe took a deep breath a spoke. "Who was the last person to see Bart? And when was it?"

 

"I saw Bart last night," Courtney said. Her face flushed when all eyes in the room turned in her direction. "He left the museum around midnight," she added, purposely avoiding Carter's eyes.

 

Carter frowned as he turned toward the teenager, disapproval in his tone. "You told me you were with Mia last night," he said as he pursed his lips.

 

"I..." Courtney stammered helplessly under his disapproving stare. "I know and I'm sorry I lied but I didn't want you to lecture Bart. We're friends," she said.

 

"Would someone like to fill me in?" Victor asked. He moved around the teenagers and joined Chloe by the computer console. "How do we know Bart's missing and not just on another burrito run?" he asked.

 

Chloe shifted slightly, giving Victor some room as she jerked her thumb in Tess’s direction. “Tess got a text from Bart that was apparently supposed to be a mass message but only went through to her because the phones are still being wonky.” She sent a glare his way as the words left her mouth.

 

“So she went to check where he was through the GPS and it didn’t work, apparently Bart’s fallen off the grid. I tried rerouting the system through the other satellite, but it didn’t work,” she said tiredly as she lifted up a hand to cover her yawn.

 

"We need to cover as much ground as possible," Oliver said. He joined Chloe and Victor by the computer. "Clark, Carter and Courtney can move the fastest so Vic, Mia and I can start checking some of the local spots Bart frequents. Chloe, you and Tess work on backtracking the GPS and see if we can pinpoint Bart at all since last night."

 

Chloe nodded as she turned toward the computer and started typing. Clark glanced at Carter and Courtney. "You guys want to take Metropolis and I'll check out all the places Bart likes to run to?" Carter nodded, his eyes shifting towards Courtney. "We can split the town in half, you take downtown and I'll take the outskirts of town, sound good?" he asked gruffly.

 

Courtney nodded as she pulled out her staff. "There are a few all night eateries that I know he likes," she said.

 

"Make sure you use your com devices," Oliver said as he walked toward the case that held his spare gear. "We don't know how widespread the problem is with the phones and if something did happen to Bart, we can't risk using them."

 

Victor turned away from the computer, a grim expression on his face. "Uh, guys? I don't think you need to worry about the phones," he said. Chloe turned her head slowly in Victor’s direction, eyes turning to slits as she spoke, drawing out every word very slowly. “What do you mean?”

 

Before Victor could answer, the double doors were pushed open and Bart walked into the main room, pausing when he saw everyone was there. He arched an eyebrow, confusion on his face as he glanced from Chloe to Oliver and then finally at Courtney, sending a wink her way before speaking. “What’s going on?”

 

"Bart!" Courtney hurried over to him and threw her arms around his neck, not caring that everyone was watching. "We were worried about you."

 

Lois folded her arms across her chest and glared at Bart. "What the hell, Shorty?" she demanded. "I have to be at work early tomorrow and I should be sleeping right now."

 

Tess arched an eyebrow as she turned to face Lois. "You were going to be early?" She smirked when the other woman glared at her. Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head as she sent a reprimanding look in Bart's direction.

 

"Lovely, so basically everyone's night was interrupted for nothing. Terrific." Bart frowned as he rubbed Courtney's back lightly before pulling back and wrapping an around her waist as he glanced around the room. "I have no clue what's going on, but if I'm going to be greeted like this every time I make my way to Watchtower I might start hanging out here more often," he said cheekily.

 

Courtney blushed, leaning into his side. She knew Carter's head was probably going to explode any second, but she was so relieved that Bart was okay that she didn't care.

 

Oliver wrapped his arm around Chloe, squeezing her shoulder lightly to try and calm her tension. "Look, it's late and I'm sure Bart has a good reason for sending that text." He eyed the younger man warily. "Tell us your good reason," he said.

 

Bart blinked. He had forgotten all about the text. He scratched the back of his neck, sending a sheepish look in their direction. "Uh, well about that...it was sort of a...joke?" he said hesitantly, letting out a short laugh as he took in the angry expressions in front of him. He pointed forward and attempted to defend himself.

 

"How was I supposed to know you guys would all freak out? If you would have just checked the GPS you would have seen I've been home for the last four hours....I mean come on, guys. Who gets kidnapped with their cell phone?" he practically shouted.

 

"Home? You were at HOME?" Lois practically flew out of her chair, rounding the desk toward Bart with her fists clenched.

 

Bart zipped away, a gust of wind making Lois' hair whip around her face. He stood near the computer console and held up his hands. "Hey now, wait a minute. Why is everyone mad at me?" He looked at Tess, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

"Why didn't you just use that stupid GPS feature on the new phones? Chloe never would have called anyone out of bed until she did that," he said, glaring at the redhead figuring if he could throw the blame off on her, everyone would stop looking at him like he was public enemy number one.

 

Tess's eyes narrowed. "I did check the GPS and so did Chloe. It was disabled which was why I called everyone here," she said. Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest as she took a step closer to Bart. "Thanks for the confidence, by the way. Next time you want to hide something from Oliver, make sure you call Chloe. I'm sure she'll cover for you like I did when you stole that peacock."

 

Bart gaped at her. "Damn it, Red!" Clark's head whipped around toward Bart and he pointed, eyes squinting in anger. "I knew it!" he shouted. "I knew you were the one who stole the peacock...I _still_ have marks from where things were glue to me...I'm going to..."

 

His voice trailed off and he blinked when Bart was no longer by Tess, but behind Courtney. Clark glared. "You can’t hide behind your girlfriend all night."

 

Carter took a step forward, glancing between Bart and Courtney. "Girlfriend?" he said, barely restrained anger in his voice. Bart groaned and dropped his head to Courtney's shoulder. "This is so not a good night for me," he mumbled.

 

Oliver smirked at the memory of Clark covered in peacock feathers. "We all knew you were lying," he said. Turning toward Tess, his expression hardened. "What's your excuse?" he asked. "If something happens with the team, I need to know about it.”

 

Tess rolled her eyes. "Don't get all high and mighty with me, Oliver. We all know you don't want to hear every little detail. Although, you might be interested to know that it was your idea to glue the feathers on Clark."

 

Clark turned quickly to Oliver, face turning slightly red. "I knew you were involved!" He stalked forward angrily, eyes filled with irritation.

 

Chloe shook her head. "Jesus." She stepped forward, voice loud. "Everyone cut it out and stop acting like a bunch of children. I don't want to hear another word about peacock feathers or who did what to whom." She placed her hands on her hips, voice growing quiet, but no less irritated.

 

"What I want to know is why the brand new GPS feature on the phones is not working. Can someone tell me that?" she asked heatedly as her gaze drifted over to Victor, eyebrow raised.

 

Victor swallowed hard at the irritation in her voice. Chloe was small, but she was scary as hell when she was mad. "I'll take a look," he offered. He went back to the console and logged into the phone system.

 

Oliver took a step back from his wife and sent Clark an apologetic smile. "Sorry, man. I really didn't remember, but yeah, it does seem like something I would do." He shifted his gaze to Carter who was still glaring at the two teenagers across the room.

 

"Would you calm down? Bart does stupid things, but Courtney could do a lot worse." He held up his hand in Bart's direction. "Do not be stupid and open your mouth right now," he warned.

 

Bart nodded. "Noted and thanks." He sent Oliver a small smile. Mia chuckled from the couch, grin on her face. "I wish I had popcorn...real life is way better than TV." Chloe glanced in the teenager’s direction, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as she attempted not to smile.

 

"Look, why don't you girls head home...it's late and I'm pretty sure you both have school. You can take them home Bart, we'll handle things here. And if you ever send another text like that again I swear..." The younger man gulped and nodded.

 

Chloe didn't need to finish her sentence for him to know she meant business. Bart moved out from behind Courtney and nodded toward Mia, who sighed and got up. Bart gave a slight wave. "Sorry guys...you know for the misunderstanding." He coughed lightly before motioning the girls toward the door.

 

"Can we go too, Smallville?" Lois asked. She wrapped her arms around Clark's waist and looked up at him, pouting. "I'm tired and I don't really care why the GPS isn't working," she said.

 

"It's fixed now," Victor said. He turned away from the computer to face the group. "It was just a small error."

 

"Like the text messages?" Oliver asked. He noticed Victor wasn't making eye contact with anyone and that wasn't like him. He also hadn't made any jokes about Bart's stunt or anything else. Something was off.

 

Chloe caught Oliver's gaze and noticed how he was looking at their friend. She turned, eyeing Victor as she pursed her lips, taking a step toward him, tone neutral...a little too neutral. "I can't help but feel like there's something you're not telling us Victor," she said quietly while arching her eyebrow in his direction. "Got something you want to share?"   
  
Chloe was tired; cranky and completely fed up at this point with the way everyone had been fighting lately. Add on to that the fact that her husband had been gone for a week and the first night he was back most of it had been spent with the guys, then their only bit of alone time was interrupted, made here tolerance levels for beating around the bush extremely low.  
  
Clark winced slightly, he knew that tone. Chloe was pissed. He wrapped an arm around Lois, tugging her to his side as he dipped his head to her ear. "In a minute...I want to know what's going on," he whispered.

 

"I'm right there with you, Smallville," Lois replied. She didn't bother to whisper. Suddenly this night was shaping up to be a lot more intriguing than she'd expected.

 

Victor hesitated, wishing he had just ignored the summons from Tess. Better yet, he wished he had just forgotten the original text message mistake like he'd told Chloe he would. "Things have been slow lately and everyone's been bored," he started.

 

"We know that," Oliver snapped. His own patience was gone and he didn't bother keeping the anger out of his voice. "What did you do?" he asked.

 

"Everyone calm down," Tess interjected. The last thing they needed was a bunch of superheroes throwing down with one another in the middle of the Watchtower. "It's not Victor's fault the phones have kept malfunctioning," she said.

 

"That's not exactly true," Victor admitted. He offered Tess a small smile, appreciating her defending him, even if it was undeserved.

 

Clark's eyes widened as he leaned toward Lois again. "I have a feeling this isn't going to go very well," he said, his voice trailing off as he squinted at Victor, trying to figure what he meant.  
  
Chloe took a deep breath, counting to ten in her head, trying to keep herself from yelling. "What do you mean that's not true?" She took another step forward and jabbed her finger into his chest. "If I was you, I'd speak up soon because the last of my patience is hanging by a thread," she said in a low voice, tone clipped.

 

Victor took a step back, but the computer console was behind him and he realized he'd only trapped himself more as everyone watched him expectantly. "All right," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "When I got Chloe's message by mistake, I had to go through the system and scan the other messages to make sure no one else got it too."

 

"Get to the point," Oliver suggested as Victor continued to hesitate.

 

"I knew what was wrong with the system, but instead of fixing it, I thought I'd just leave it that way for awhile to liven things up around here," Victor admitted.

 

Everyone was silent. No one said a word as they waited for the inevitable shoe to drop. Clark was just about to open his mouth to ask Victor what the hell he was thinking when all hell broke loose in front of him.  
  
Clark's eyes widened comically as the scene played out in what seemed like slow motion. Chloe was furious. No scratch that, she was in a blind rage. Did Victor know how many arguments he started? How he'd made her and Ollie fight? How Emil's talk with Oliver sent him into a fit of guilt? She was going to kill him.  
  
Her body lurched forward of its own accord as she practically flew toward him, a slight growl leaving her throat.

 

"Hit him hard!" Lois shouted. "Put your whole body into it," she encouraged, gesturing with her own fists.

 

"Chloe!" Oliver grabbed his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him as she struggled. He glared at Victor over the top of her head. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded.

 

Victor's eyes were wide as he pressed his back tighter against the console and he was seriously considering making a run for it. He had never seen Chloe so angry. "I'm sorry! It was supposed to be a joke...something we could all laugh about."

 

His words only made Chloe angrier. "A joke? Do you have any idea how many arguments you caused, just between Oliver and I alone? Let alone the mortifying conversation Ollie had to endure with Emil that led to yet another fight between us!" She shouted as Carter and Clark stood awkwardly to the side, eyes wide, mouths shut.  
  
She tried to pry herself out of Oliver's arms. “Let me go, Oliver; I'm going to shove one of you arrows up his..."  
  
Clark took a step forward, cutting off Chloe's words. "Okay I think we've all had a really long night and maybe this isn't the best time to discuss this." Chloe's head whipped around in his direction, eyes blazing.  
  
"Shut up, Clark unless you want a kryptonite titanium laced arrow up yours!" Rationally, Chloe knew she was probably overreacting, but she couldn't help it. She and Oliver never fought and yet in the past few weeks, they had fought more than in their entire relationship.

 

"Okay, we need a minute," Oliver said. He lifted Chloe up against his chest and carried her toward the door. He glanced back over his shoulder and met Clark's eyes. "Make sure everyone stays here," he ordered.

 

Lois rolled her eyes. "Well that was anti-climactic." She turned to Victor. "I can see the appeal, but you really didn't think this one through."

 

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Victor muttered. He really hoped Oliver would be able to calm Chloe down. Not that he felt much safer in a room with Clark and Carter. He found himself wishing Bart and the girls had stayed. He didn't think anyone would hurt him in front of them. Then again, he'd assumed everyone would just get a good laugh out of this and move on.

 

Oliver set Chloe down near the elevator, keeping one hand on her waist to make sure she didn't try to run back into the room. "I've never seen you this mad before, Chloe," he said quietly, his eyes searching hers.

 

Chloe avoided his eyes and let out a long huff, adrenaline from the pent up anger at the situation running through her body. She crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke quietly, but furiously. "I'm tired of them treating everything like some kind of joke. Do you realize that you and I have fought more than once in the past few weeks because of this nonsense?" she asked.  
  
Her chest tightened slightly as she finally glanced up at him. "If you and I weren't as stubborn as we are about communication, more than one of those fights could have led to serious issues between us, Oliver."  
  
She paused, taking a deep breath to try and control her emotions. That was another thing, she had been whining and crying like an overemotional teenager lately because of all the fighting and it was ridiculous. "Sure, peacock feathers, juicy booty comments and silly things like that are fine, it's amusing and yeah we were bored, but I do not like things that have the potential to mess with us," she said softly as she moved her hand, gripping his waist tightly.  
  
"I’m already waiting for the other shoe to drop because things have been so great and I've never been this happy...and in our lives, well in my experience, those feelings of bliss don't last long." She sighed, looking away from him. "It sounds silly I know, but I can't help it. I guess all the stupid little fights lately have been getting to me...I'm sorry." She said softly, still not looking at him.

 

Oliver cupped her cheek in his hand, tilting her head back toward him so she was forced to meet his gaze. The fact that they'd been fighting more than usual lately was getting to him too and he'd hated having to leave her for a week long business trip. But the fact that she was still having doubts after everything they had been through in the last two years made his chest tight.

 

"Chloe, I wish you had said something sooner," he said. "I know things haven't been ideal lately, but nothing ever is, especially given what we choose to do with our lives." Swallowing hard, he stroked her face gently and offered her a sad smile.

 

"There's always going to be another shoe to drop or another war to fight or another text message that gets misconstrued. We're going to do what we always do and get through it. Together," Oliver told her firmly. He gestured between them. "We're a team and that's never going to change."

 

Chloe's face softened as she turned her head slightly, pressing a light kiss to his palm before moving into his body and wrapping her arms around his midsection. "You're right...I'm sorry. I believe in our relationship and I know you and I are solid, it's everything around us that I question," Chloe said quietly as she pressed her herself further against him, her hands sliding up and around his neck as she brought herself on her tiptoes.  
  
"I just get scared sometimes, especially now that things have been quiet, I feel like something is brewing, like the calm before the storm. I just...I don't want to spend any more time away from you," she whispered into his neck, eyes tearing up slightly at the thought of all those months they’d spent apart. Chloe shook the thoughts away and let out a shaky laugh. "God do you hear me? I'm being crazy." She swallowed heavily as she pressed a kiss to his neck. "I'm sorry for being so neurotic lately...and for trying to kill Victor," she mumbled.

 

Oliver wrapped both arms around her and held her tight. "Don't be sorry, Chloe." He kissed the top of her head before pulling back slightly so he could look into her eyes.

 

"I hate being away from you." He swallowed hard, all those months she'd been gone flashing through his mind. "If I could have sent Tess or anyone else in my place this past week, I would have." Oliver brushed her hair back from her face and smiled at her. "Maybe next time I can save us both the trouble and just bring you with me," he offered.

 

Oliver had considered asking her to go to Star City with him, but he knew she was busy with Watchtower and helping Lois with wedding stuff. But the truth was, he would have much rather had her at his side all week. "We need to deal with that." He nodded his head toward the doors. "Then we can get back to what we were doing before," he said suggestively. He let his hand slide down her back to rest on the curve of her bottom.

 

Chloe chuckled. "Careful, Mr. Queen, what have I told you about starting things you can finish right now?" She gave him a mock stern look before running a hand over his cheek, thumb brushing against the skin there.  
  
Her expression warmed. "And it’s fine, we knew we'd have to factor in business trips, I'm okay with that. And I definitely wouldn't mind getting a little sun every once in awhile, if you want some company on said trips. I can take just throw Watchtower in mobile mode and take it with me," she said as she leaned forward, pressing a kiss against his chin as one of her hands slipped under his shirt, caressing his stomach lightly.

 

His stomach muscles clenched under her light touch. "Now who's starting something she can't finish?" Oliver leaned down and kissed her, lips lingering over hers as he moved her backward, trapping her body between his and the closed elevator doors.

 

"We could just leave," he whispered between kisses. Oliver was suddenly a lot less interested in Victor's motives or anything else aside from the woman in his arms.

 

Chloe moaned, returning his kisses as she let her hand dip slightly lower, toying with the waist of his pants, breath hot against his cheek. "Or we can just go into the elevator and hit the emergency stop button..." she said, voice breathy as she took one of his hands and brought it down until he was palming her ass again.   
  
"I seem to recall not putting anything on under these pants." She leaned up, catching his bottom lip between her teeth for a second, sucking it into her mouth and then releasing it.  
  
"It would serve them right; let them think we're mad..." she whispered as her hand dipped lower, pressing against the slightly bulge in his jeans.

 

Oliver groaned, his hips instinctively bucking to press himself harder against her hand. He blindly reached out with his free hand, slamming it against the button to open the elevator doors.

 

"You sure about this, Sidekick?" He slipped his hand past the waistband of her pants and caressed her bare skin. "Do you want everyone to hear you screaming my name?" Oliver's lips trailed over her neck until he reached her pulse point. He sucked the skin into his mouth as his other hand lingered over the emergency stop button.

 

Her eyes slid shut as she arched against him, his hand stroking her lightly. "Oh god..." she said in a moan before biting down on her lower lip, her hand cupping him, and kneading him through his pants.  
  
She tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to the column of her neck. "I don't care...you're my husband...they already know I scream your name, and I don't want to wait."

 

Chloe hooked an arm around his neck, pulling her body as close to him as possible, trapping their hands between their bodies. "I want you inside of me," she said hotly, eyes darkening with lust as her pulse quickened, arousal coursing through her.

 

He captured her mouth in a desperate kiss. Oliver was so turned on; he didn't think he could wait to be inside of her if his life depended on it. He brought his hand out of her pants, gripping the material in his fist to shove it out of the way while his other hand groped for the button to close the door.

 

A loud alarm screeched, startling him out of his lust haze. Blinking, Oliver realized he had hit the alarm by mistake. His hand shot out to turn it off, but it was too late.

 

Clark was the first one in the hallway, Lois right behind him. She took one look at the couple in the elevator and rolled her eyes.

 

"Really, guys? Is it that hard to keep it in your pants, Ollie?" she asked with a smirk. Chloe whimpered, glancing around Oliver and glaring at her cousin. “Shut up Lois, Jesus I am so sick and tired of everyone interrupting us! Get out!” she snapped as she pointed toward the hall.

 

Clark opened and closed his mouth for a minute unsure of what to do. “But…you’re in the elevator.” Chloe arched an eyebrow at him. “Your point?” Clark glanced at Lois, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say to that. It wasn’t everyday your friends told you to leave them in the elevator so they could have sex.

 

Victor stepped into the hallway with Tess and Carter right behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the commotion, but decided it was best not to say anything.

 

Tess rolled her eyes. "If we're done here, I'm going home," she said.

 

Oliver glared at everyone over his shoulder, but kept himself pressed against Chloe. "You guys do what you want. You heard the lady." He motioned for them to walk away and pressed the button to close the doors.

 

Carter shook his head and let out a sigh, "Hey, do you know how many floors are in this building? You can't hog the elevator. Open the doors!" he said gruffly as he pounded lightly on the closed doors. Clark glanced at Lois with a small grin and held out his hand. "Lucky for you, we can run."

 

Lois slipped her hand into his. "In case I haven't mentioned it lately, your super speed is fantastic, Smallville." She rose to her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

 

His grin widened and he bent slightly, lifting her in his arms, bride style. "I thought I could use a little practice, you know, for when I have to carry you over the threshold," he said softly, his eyes never leaving hers.

 

Tess rolled her eyes again and turned to Carter. "There's a window in there that opens. Please get me out of here before I lose the very expensive dinner I treated myself to earlier."

 

Carter snorted, moving forward and wrapping an arm around Tess, "Gladly, if I need to listen to anymore of this gushy garbage I'm going to be tossing Boy Scout over there into a window just like I did Robin Hood." He grunted. "Hold on tight." He smirked at the redhead in front of him, hoping she didn't get nauseated easily.

 

Victor watched as Clark scooped up Lois and went one way while Carter and Tess disappeared back into the main room. He glanced at the elevator, noting the light still indicated the car was stopped on their floor. He made a face. "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

 

 


End file.
